Does anyone have any more informtion about Sommer? When this happened? I'm not being morbid; I was friends with her at Jordan and she the WAS the cool girl (like Rickey said) that I was not.....it's been really jarring to read of classmates that we have fond memories of not being alive.....
I remember Sommer's name but had to dig out the yearbooks to remember her face. Didn't help that she's missing from the 76 book, but found her in the 75 and 74 editions. Her brother is Steve Shaver, class of 75. I Googled them, and found that Steve is president of the family business in Portland. They operate tug boats on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. You can see at www.shavertransportation.com.
From Steve's emails:
"Sommer was working at the company at the time of her death. She was the VP of ship assist sales and did a wonderful job for us. I think that Sommer came to Portland in the early 80's. I moved to Portland in 75 and I thought she graduated from Paly in 76. Maybe she skipped school that day (picture day) or didn't turn in a photo. She was into the party scene during that time. It is a long story but she fell off my dad's balcony late one night and he lives on the 13th floor of an apartment complex. Her death was very unfortunate and was determined to be an accident. One of the worst times of my life. Anyway she was a great sister who always made me strive to keep ahead of her competitively in lots of areas of my life."
What's cool is they named a tugboat after her, the Sommer S. If you google sommer shaver, you will see a bunch of articles about it, such as at www.professionalmariner.com/American-Tugboat-Review/Columbia-River-tug-designed-for-barge-work-and-ship-escort/
Thank you for the information Steve and for the link. What an awful way to die as Sommer did. Very touching though to hear how her brother spoke about losing her.
Rickey Hayes
Oh my God!,
Sommer was so cool, she will be seriously missed.
Rickey Hayes
Julie Renalds
Does anyone have any more informtion about Sommer? When this happened? I'm not being morbid; I was friends with her at Jordan and she the WAS the cool girl (like Rickey said) that I was not.....it's been really jarring to read of classmates that we have fond memories of not being alive.....
Doug Heckinger
Julie is right: it is so jarring and sobering to read about all our fallen classmates. Let's strive to make each moment count.
Rowena Coetsee (Gonden)
Ditto to Doug's and Julie's comments -- these premature losses of former classmates underscore just how ephemeral life is ....
Enid Baumgardner (Greenfield)
Yes, very sad to hear about the loses in our class. Every moment is important. Looking forward to seeing all of you at the reunion.
Steve Brennan
I remember Sommer's name but had to dig out the yearbooks to remember her face. Didn't help that she's missing from the 76 book, but found her in the 75 and 74 editions. Her brother is Steve Shaver, class of 75. I Googled them, and found that Steve is president of the family business in Portland. They operate tug boats on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. You can see at www.shavertransportation.com.
From Steve's emails:
"Sommer was working at the company at the time of her death. She was the VP of ship assist sales and did a wonderful job for us. I think that Sommer came to Portland in the early 80's. I moved to Portland in 75 and I thought she graduated from Paly in 76. Maybe she skipped school that day (picture day) or didn't turn in a photo. She was into the party scene during that time. It is a long story but she fell off my dad's balcony late one night and he lives on the 13th floor of an apartment complex. Her death was very unfortunate and was determined to be an accident. One of the worst times of my life. Anyway she was a great sister who always made me strive to keep ahead of her competitively in lots of areas of my life."
What's cool is they named a tugboat after her, the Sommer S. If you google sommer shaver, you will see a bunch of articles about it, such as at www.professionalmariner.com/American-Tugboat-Review/Columbia-River-tug-designed-for-barge-work-and-ship-escort/
And pictures too.
I presume there's more of a story there.
Alison Bridges
Thank you for sharing Steve Shaver's post about Sommer. Very sad.
Julie Renalds
Thank you for the information Steve and for the link. What an awful way to die as Sommer did. Very touching though to hear how her brother spoke about losing her.