Leslie Michael "Mike" Kemp

Leslie Michael Kemp was born on September 23, 1936 in Brainerd, Minnesota, the youngest of four children. When he was five, he and his family moved to Minneapolis where little Micky started school.

In 1946, they moved to Great Falls, Montana, by train. In 1947, they moved to Vanport, Oregon. Vanport at the time was Oregon’s second largest city. It was built along the Columbia River for the people who worked in the shipyards during WWII. His dad moved the family from Vanport to Portland right before the city was destroyed by a flood that went over the banks of the Columbia River. Mike was raised in Portland where he graduated with the Franklin High School class of 1954.

Mike and his three sisters did a lot of berry picking while in grade school. He was good at it too. He could pick up to 120 pounds in a day. In 1954, Mike went to work on a 7,000 acre ranch outside of Monument, Oregon, doing farm work until a year later when he joined the US Coast Guard. He served for four years while stationed in Newport, Oregon, and worked as a diesel engine mechanic under the direction of famous Captain Tom McAdams. While in the Coast Guard, Mike met a beautiful red headed woman, Gladys. They had two daughters, Toni and Diann. He also started working for the Oregon State University Department of Oceanography and the Marine biologists up in the Bearing Sea.

Following his stint in the Coast Guard, Mike enrolled in college at OSU and majored in Wildlife Biology. He graduated in 1964 and moved to La Grande, Oregon. He spent the next 31 years working for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife first as a Habitat Biologist in charge of the Ladd Marsh Wildlife area, then as a regional wildlife biologist. Mike was instrumental in starting the Elk Feeding Station near Foothill Road. He traveled to Texas and Alaska to trade elk for turkeys that the Department introduced to Oregon. Mike had 120 miles of horseback deer census routes that he’d ride in the spring when new grass was growing on the deer winter ranges. In his career he did many radio broadcasts and hunter education programs in the area schools. He said he had a great career that he absolutely loved and retired in September of 1995.

Mike was an avid and dedicated volunteer in the area. He worked with the Izaak Walton League, a community based conservation group with a local La Grande chapter. Mike volunteered with the JC’s and Elk’s Lodge working with students earning scholarships. While attending St. Peter’s Episcopal church, he was a Junior and Senior high school youth group leader and taught Bible study. Mike volunteered many hours and years with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation as the Master of Ceremonies at their banquets. Mike volunteered hundreds of hours with the Neighbor to Neighbor organization and also helped many who were in need of a skilled carpenter and handyman. Of course, Mike loved hunting with his friends here in La Grande and in Montana.

Mike married Phyllis (Piekarz) Kemp on September 16, 2000. He was a member of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in La Grande.

Mike is survived by his wife of 25 years, Phyllis of La Grande; two daughters, Toni Perlot of La Grande, Diann Jackson of Hermiston; two grandchildren, Christopher Perlot and Taylor Perlot; three stepchildren, Kristin Ahiekpor and her family of Toledo, Ohio, Eric Olsen and wife Brandy and family of Noti, Oregon and Stephen and Jodi Olsen of Grass Valley, California, ten step-grandchildren and one step-great-grandchild.

Mike was preceded in death by his parents and his three sisters, Nancy, Connie and Frankie.

Contributions in memory of Mike Kemp may be made to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

A Funeral Mass will be held Monday, December 8 at 11:00 a.m. at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church.