Homer Shaw celebrates 100 years

Homer Shaw arrived in Sisters in 1919 on a horse, following his family's horse-drawn buggy. He was five years old. On Saturday, January 19, his birthday celebration at Sisters Rodeo grounds was a living museum of the history of Sisters.

Shaw graduated from Sisters High School in 1932. He had already worked on many local ranches, including the Leithauser Ranch on Camp Polk Road and the Lazy Z at the southeast end of Sisters. He became a logger with Barclay Logging, skidding logs with horses.

In 1941, Shaw married his favorite waitress, Norma. The couple raised two sons, John and Ralph, who were also Sisters High graduates. Many of the friends who came to celebrate with the Shaws attended school with those sons and also worked for Barclay Logging, as had their fathers.

"Everybody worked for Barclay Logging," said Dan Hewitt, a lifelong family friend.

Hewitt and his brother, Sam, attended school with the Shaw boys, along with Gerry Tewalt.

"The Shaw home was my second home," said Tewalt. "Nobody could cook like Norma, and just being in that home made you want to be polite. She was the classiest woman in Sisters."

In those early years, the other employer in Sisters was Oregon State Forestry. Swede Pearson was the State Forester. His widow, Anna Pearson Alegria, wasn't going to miss this party, just like many lifelong friends of the couple. Edith Leithauser, whose husband, Pete, was Shaw's classmate throughout their years in Sisters Schools, was in attendance, along with Steve Barclay, whose father founded the logging company, and Ray Runco, who taught the Shaws' younger son.

"Homer mowed our first hay crop," said Carolyn Runco, who owns the historic home on Three Creek Road.

Homer also grew onions that were the best the Runcos ever ate.

"Roy kept trying to find out how to raise them, and all Homer would say is 'I could grow onions on a sidewalk.' Roy never did learn."

When 10 Sisters businessmen began Sisters Rodeo with their financial investment, Shaw became a member. He has not missed a rodeo in 73 years, most of those years working in the arena at the bucking chutes. He became the rodeo president in 1976, with friends like Ralph McNulty and John Leavitt. He served on the board of directors for a total of over 40 years.

In 2000, he and Norma moved closer to family. He has continued to drive from Condon, Oregon, for every rodeo since. Although he no longer works in the arena, he remains an active volunteer, shaming anyone who tries to be a slacker.

Homer and Norma were honored as the rodeo Grand Marshal in 2000.

For his birthday, Shaw was given a Sisters Rodeo jacket that notes his 100 years and decades of rodeo service.

George Sproat, former multiple-term Sisters mayor, served on city council with Shaw after Shaw's service as mayor for several years. The two also worked together at Barclay Logging, Sproat as a timber-faller and Shaw as a log-loader.

"Homer was so skilled with cables that everyone tried to hire him," said Tewalt. "He'd get to work at 3 a.m. and then take a short nap just before everyone else arrived." Tewalt found him sleeping in his truck one morning, so he quietly raised the front end of the truck about 30 degrees off the ground and then dropped it.

"Homer isn't a big man, but he was 6'5" when he came out of that truck after me," joked Tewalt, who was about 21 at the time.

Shaw was Sisters' first sheriff. He was a Sisters mayor and served many, many years on the city council. He was a stalwart in the rodeo, a legend in the forest and is still a kind, salt-of-the-earth family man.

Norma worked in Leithauser Grocery, cooked at Sisters Schools with Bernadette Lowery, and chaperoned every school event and field trip while their sons were in school. The Shaw sons were both quarterbacks who took their teams to two state championships, and their dad was very proud.

When asked how he has managed to live so long and well, Shaw's eyes twinkled as he said, "I quit chasing women."

Norma stood next to him and laughed.

They will celebrate their 73rd wedding anniversary soon.

"We are very blessed," said the proud wife. "We've had a wonderful life together and we're just lucky."

The Shaw's grandson, J.J., was the host of the event. Smoke darkened the room when the Shaws together blew out 100 candles on the birthday cake while their great-granddaughter led the crowd in singing happy birthday.

The family that traveled "home" for the event included their surviving son, John and his wife, Pat, of Condon; J.J. and his wife, Barb, and Allie of Minnesota. Many friends traveled from as far as Idaho, California, Eastern Oregon and the Willamette Valley.

Shaw stays active in Condon, tending his garden and mowing the lawn, and is still the source of great stories of "old Sisters." Within him are tales of a rowdy, wild and tight-knit (almost) company town that was Sisters.

He and Norma will be back for the 74th Sisters Rodeo next June.