By Alex Paul
Reprinted courtesy of Mid-Valley Media
Jo Ann Hull was a freshman at Sweet Home High School when Tim McQueary was a senior in 1962.
She “knew about him” since he was involved in student government, but it would be several years before they had their first date.
She accepted “because he had a Corvette,” she says with a laugh, but she fell in love with him because he had a big heart and open arms for anyone in need, attributes that only grew with time.
Despite having totally opposite personalities – he was a linear thinker and everything had to be in its place – they spent 53 years together.
Until Feb. 17, when Tim – who served two terms as mayor of Sweet Home – died of a heart attack at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.
He was 76 and although he was born in Portland, he was one of Sweet Home’s favorite sons, involved in everything from the Ore-gon Jamboree and Sweet Home Community Foundation to the Linn County Fair Board, the Ore-gon Community Foundation and scholarship programs at Linn-Benton Community College.
He served on the Sweet Home City Council from 1995 until 2006 and was mayor for two terms.
“He had the highest integrity of anyone I have ever known,” Jo Ann said. “He was always thinking about other people first. It was never about him. He was always looking for a way to serve others.”
McQueary said, “Do what you like in the service of people who love what you do,” describes her husband’s philosophy.
McQueary was born on June 13, 1944 to businessman Hobert and Agnes McQueary. He has a brother and a sister.
Although he had a passion for education, he attended only one term at what was then called the Oregon College of Education in Monmouth, before returning home to help his father in their at-the-time innovative particleboard factory.
He devoted his life helping others go to college and although he and Jo Ann did not have any children of their own, many children called him “Grampa Tim.”
“Babies loved him,” Jo Ann said. “He was more than a human being, he was a human doing. He took great pride in his community service and seeing that his and group efforts made a difference.”
McQueary worked at ATI Wah Chang for 37 years, rising to head up the company’s powder metallurgy program. He retired in 2009.
“He loved his work and the people he worked with,” McQueary said.
He enjoyed exploring Central Oregon by snowmobile and spending time at the Oregon coast.
Glenda Melcher of Sweet Home was friends with McQueary since they were in the third grade.
“They moved away for a while and when he came back our freshman year, it was like we had never been apart. We have been best friends since,” Melcher said. “We have always worked on class reunions together. We may not have talked often, but we both knew how we felt.”
Melcher said McQueary “had a kind heart. He always made people feel respected and was such a great listener.”
Melcher said when McQueary was younger, she never saw him as being someone who would be so active in the community.
“He did so much for Sweet Home. He did so many things people never knew he was involved with,” Melcher said. “It broke my heart to hear of his passing. He was so caring of others.”
Ken Bronson, former director of the Sweet Home Senior Center, called McQueary, “a great guy who had a good head for numbers and lots of common sense.”
Bronson said he and McQueary served on the Linn County Transit Committee for many years.
“He was always keenly aware of the big picture,” Bronson said. “He was very supportive of what we were doing with transportation programs in Sweet Home, Lebanon and Albany.”
Bronson said he and McQueary often car-pooled to meetings in Albany, so they had time to discuss issues.
“He was such a great resource about Sweet Home’s past,” Bronson said. “I came here from Lane County, so that was great information for me to know.”
Sweet Home volunteer Dick Knowles said he will miss seeing McQueary at City Council meetings.
Knowles said he wished council members could model themselves after McQueary “his style, his quiet demeanor, his incredible work ethic and most importantly, his devotion to public service to everyone in Sweet Home and the county.”
One of McQueary’s favorite charities was the Linn-Benton Community College Foundation.
He and Jo Ann were instrumental in creating a fund specifically for students who need a helping hand to get through unforeseen emergencies.
“Often when a student gets into a situation where they are financially strapped, they can lose hope,” McQueary said in the foundation’s 2018 annual report. “Once a student makes a commitment to go to college and are in their program, then to have something go wrong financially – well, many times they don’t come back. With a little bit of investment at the right time, we wanted to provide the added encouragement to keep going and to stay in school.”
Former LBCC Director of Development John McArdle, who is currently mayor of Independence, said McQueary “was always looking for ways to make things better: Sweet Home, the county, the entire community. He, along with his wife JoAnn, worked to strengthen organizations and individuals who needed support.”
McArdle said McQueary committed his time and knowledge, with no interest in recognition.
“He just wanted what was best for people,” McArdle said. “His words of advice made a real difference to me in my early years as mayor. His commitment to service and the greater community impacted so many lives. He will be missed by so many of us.”
Bob Burford, retired Sweet Home Police Chief and president of the Sweet Home Community Foundation, said McQueary “was one of the original foundation board members and his knowledge of our community and common sense approach to board decisions is irreplaceable. While I may be the board president, I almost always sought out Tim’s guidance and wisdom on delicate issues.”
Burford added, “Tim always put the long-term needs of our community first. I have known Tim since his early days on the Sweet Home City Council and he was both a personal friend and a mentor.”
Former Linn County Public Health Director Frank Moore said he and McQueary used to have breakfast together at The Point Restaurant overlooking Foster Reservoir every few weeks.
“I met him through Jo Ann,” Moore said. “I always thought of him as an island of sanity in a world that can be quite challenging.”
Moore said he could be having a bad week and McQueary would “make people feel like they are the most important person in the room. He had wicked sense of humor as well.”
Willamette Community Bank President Joan Reukauf said McQueary was a director who “was a real advocate for our employees. He was always willing to make sure our employees got what made them whole, happy and still got our business done. Most people wouldn’t know that about him.”
Reukauf called McQueary “Selfless. He was someone who gave everything he had including his money, heart, mind and spirit. He always went deeper and farther.”
Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist called McQueary, who was a former chairman of the Linn County Fair Board, “an outstanding person. As we look back on all he did for his community, it’s almost mind-boggling. It is a loss that will be deeply felt throughout Linn County.”
Sweet Home Mayor Greg Mahler praised McQueary at Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting and asked for a moment of silence in his honor.
At McQueary’s request, no services are planned, but his family suggests people can honor him by finding ways to be of service in their communities and to donate to their favorite charities.