Bobby Pruitt, 93, of Grants Pass, Oregon passed away Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at a Grants Pass foster home. The memorial service will be held June 3, 2017 at 11:00 a.m., at Redwood Christian Church, 4995 Redwood Avenue, Grants Pass, OR 97527. No viewing.
LAST OF THE ORIGINAL RIVER RATS: Bob Pruitt, who died last week at the age of 93, lived a full life fishing, rowing all over the Northwest.
Driving down Pruitt Place west of Grants Pass you see two wooden drift boats Bob Pruitt used to row, a garden where he grew giant vegetables, and finally, on the edge of the Rogue River, the home he and wife Jean lived for many years. She died in 2010.
His son Ernie sat on the deck Monday afternoon, taking a break from remodeling the home he's now living in, and remembered his dad.
Bob Pruitt died last week at age 93 at Norris Manor, following a stroke in January.
He leaves a Rogue River guiding legacy that began the year Ernie was born, 1948, and that covered the far ends of Oregon, Idaho, Colorado and even British Columbia, fishing and rowing for three decades.
Ernie's best memory might be when Bob rowed the Wild Rogue River canyon close to his 80th birthday, in November. Ernie, after consulting his cousin Ernest Friend, decided it was too dangerous for Bob to go, but Bob wasn't deterred. "He said 'That's OK, Ernie, I'll run your boat through any of the rapids you don't want to,'" Ernie said. "My concern for his safety went right over his head."
They went, and took Jean, and brother Steve, and they camped, Ernie recalled. "Some of the guides knew who he was. 'Bobby, Bobby, is that you?' They couldn't believe they were seeing him running a boat down there in the canyon."
Another fond memory came from 2007, one of Bob's last trips on the river, with Ernie and Ernie's daughter and grandson — four generations in the drift boat, on a short jaunt to Schroeder Park near the Pruitt home.
Ernie remembers in winters his father worked in sawmills, and hauling hay, and he'd preach at small churches in places like Hugo on Sundays. "He was a serious Christian man. Those principles were a driving force in his life," said Ernie, now an associate pastor at Jerome Prairie Bible Chuch. "All six of his children followed in his steps."
Ernie spent years as a missionary in Mongolia, Russia and New Zealand. Brother Lee also did missionary work in Kenya. Sister Mary built an orphanage in the Philippines.
Bob Pruitt was preaching and working for the U.S. Forest Service at Cascade Gorge when the voice of the Rogue River beckoned in 1948.
Famed guide Prince Helfrich, a boating companion of Pruitt's uncle "Veltie," needed a baggage boatman for the lower Rogue River, and Pruitt signed on at the age of 24. "I followed Prince and duplicated everything he did as much as possible," Pruitt said in 1996.
Pruitt rowed the McKenzie-style boats used by Helfrich and his uncle, instead of the longer Rogue River-style boat favored by Rogue old-timers.
Pruitt ran early trips on the Deschutes, Metolius, John Day, Grande Ronde, and Illinois, along with all the forks of the Salmon in Idaho, most of which saw little traffic in those days.
But he was even more of a pioneer on the Owyhee River, which slices through the high desert of far Southeastern Oregon. In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, always in the month of May, he ran Owyhee trips — about 125 in his career. "That's one of the greatest rivers in the world," he said in 1996. "It was kind of my private place for a few years." There's even a rock formation known as Pruitt's Castle, where he spent one night sleeping under the stars.
Pruitt learned a lot about the Owyhee after meeting his future wife Jean at Northwest Christian College in Eugene. Her father worked on Indian reservations in the Owyhee River country for years, and Pruitt would visit in the summer.
On the Rogue, Pruitt did fall trips in the canyon alongside the Pyle brothers, Squeak Briggs, Wayne Riggs, Glen Wooldridge, Claude Bardon, Bob Pritchett and many other river pioneers. He also did scenic boat trips in summer when no one else was doing it, other than when Grant Garcia fired up Hellgate Excursions in 1960, Ernie said.
"They were the real pioneers and blazed the trail that made it possible for guides of my generation to make a living on the river," emailed Gary Enoch, a former Rogue River guide in the 1980s and 1990s, now living in Florida. "Some were known for their fishing ability, some for their whitewater skills and others because of their personalities, but they were all legendary in their own ways and helped to create the mystique of the Rogue River. I saw (Pruitt's) obituary and was saddened, because he is the last in a long line of select individuals who were original river rats."
Pruitt's notable celebrity clients included actor Gregory Peck, World War II Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, and actress Shirley Temple Black.
The family will spread his ashes at a special camping spot near Union Creek, where the Pruitt family began camping over 100 years ago.
A service will be held at Redwood Christian Chuch west of Grants Pass, which he helped start up in the 1970s. They'll remember a man who kept his bow running straight, and who would on occasion take acquaintances down the river out of the goodness of his heart.
"He was known for being a wholesome person," Ernie said. "He had friends everywhere."
(Obit & article (by Jeff Duewel) published in the Grants Pass, OR "Daily Courier" on May 10, 2017.)
**************
The contributor met Bobby Pruitt in 1991 at an Oregon-California Trails Assn (OCTA) Convention held in Sacramento, CA. They were genealogy friends for many years. A highlight of that friendship was when Bobby took the contributor out on the Rogue River for a day's adventure, even preparing a delicious meal while out on the river. Happy Trails, Bobby!
LAST OF THE ORIGINAL RIVER RATS: Bob Pruitt, who died last week at the age of 93, lived a full life fishing, rowing all over the Northwest.
Driving down Pruitt Place west of Grants Pass you see two wooden drift boats Bob Pruitt used to row, a garden where he grew giant vegetables, and finally, on the edge of the Rogue River, the home he and wife Jean lived for many years. She died in 2010.
His son Ernie sat on the deck Monday afternoon, taking a break from remodeling the home he's now living in, and remembered his dad.
Bob Pruitt died last week at age 93 at Norris Manor, following a stroke in January.
He leaves a Rogue River guiding legacy that began the year Ernie was born, 1948, and that covered the far ends of Oregon, Idaho, Colorado and even British Columbia, fishing and rowing for three decades.
Ernie's best memory might be when Bob rowed the Wild Rogue River canyon close to his 80th birthday, in November. Ernie, after consulting his cousin Ernest Friend, decided it was too dangerous for Bob to go, but Bob wasn't deterred. "He said 'That's OK, Ernie, I'll run your boat through any of the rapids you don't want to,'" Ernie said. "My concern for his safety went right over his head."
They went, and took Jean, and brother Steve, and they camped, Ernie recalled. "Some of the guides knew who he was. 'Bobby, Bobby, is that you?' They couldn't believe they were seeing him running a boat down there in the canyon."
Another fond memory came from 2007, one of Bob's last trips on the river, with Ernie and Ernie's daughter and grandson — four generations in the drift boat, on a short jaunt to Schroeder Park near the Pruitt home.
Ernie remembers in winters his father worked in sawmills, and hauling hay, and he'd preach at small churches in places like Hugo on Sundays. "He was a serious Christian man. Those principles were a driving force in his life," said Ernie, now an associate pastor at Jerome Prairie Bible Chuch. "All six of his children followed in his steps."
Ernie spent years as a missionary in Mongolia, Russia and New Zealand. Brother Lee also did missionary work in Kenya. Sister Mary built an orphanage in the Philippines.
Bob Pruitt was preaching and working for the U.S. Forest Service at Cascade Gorge when the voice of the Rogue River beckoned in 1948.
Famed guide Prince Helfrich, a boating companion of Pruitt's uncle "Veltie," needed a baggage boatman for the lower Rogue River, and Pruitt signed on at the age of 24. "I followed Prince and duplicated everything he did as much as possible," Pruitt said in 1996.
Pruitt rowed the McKenzie-style boats used by Helfrich and his uncle, instead of the longer Rogue River-style boat favored by Rogue old-timers.
Pruitt ran early trips on the Deschutes, Metolius, John Day, Grande Ronde, and Illinois, along with all the forks of the Salmon in Idaho, most of which saw little traffic in those days.
But he was even more of a pioneer on the Owyhee River, which slices through the high desert of far Southeastern Oregon. In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, always in the month of May, he ran Owyhee trips — about 125 in his career. "That's one of the greatest rivers in the world," he said in 1996. "It was kind of my private place for a few years." There's even a rock formation known as Pruitt's Castle, where he spent one night sleeping under the stars.
Pruitt learned a lot about the Owyhee after meeting his future wife Jean at Northwest Christian College in Eugene. Her father worked on Indian reservations in the Owyhee River country for years, and Pruitt would visit in the summer.
On the Rogue, Pruitt did fall trips in the canyon alongside the Pyle brothers, Squeak Briggs, Wayne Riggs, Glen Wooldridge, Claude Bardon, Bob Pritchett and many other river pioneers. He also did scenic boat trips in summer when no one else was doing it, other than when Grant Garcia fired up Hellgate Excursions in 1960, Ernie said.
"They were the real pioneers and blazed the trail that made it possible for guides of my generation to make a living on the river," emailed Gary Enoch, a former Rogue River guide in the 1980s and 1990s, now living in Florida. "Some were known for their fishing ability, some for their whitewater skills and others because of their personalities, but they were all legendary in their own ways and helped to create the mystique of the Rogue River. I saw (Pruitt's) obituary and was saddened, because he is the last in a long line of select individuals who were original river rats."
Pruitt's notable celebrity clients included actor Gregory Peck, World War II Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, and actress Shirley Temple Black.
The family will spread his ashes at a special camping spot near Union Creek, where the Pruitt family began camping over 100 years ago.
A service will be held at Redwood Christian Chuch west of Grants Pass, which he helped start up in the 1970s. They'll remember a man who kept his bow running straight, and who would on occasion take acquaintances down the river out of the goodness of his heart.
"He was known for being a wholesome person," Ernie said. "He had friends everywhere."
(Obit & article (by Jeff Duewel) published in the Grants Pass, OR "Daily Courier" on May 10, 2017.)
**************
The contributor met Bobby Pruitt in 1991 at an Oregon-California Trails Assn (OCTA) Convention held in Sacramento, CA. They were genealogy friends for many years. A highlight of that friendship was when Bobby took the contributor out on the Rogue River for a day's adventure, even preparing a delicious meal while out on the river. Happy Trails, Bobby!
Bobby Pruitt, 93, of Grants Pass, Oregon passed away Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at a Grants Pass foster home. The memorial service will be held June 3, 2017 at 11:00 a.m., at Redwood Christian Church, 4995 Redwood Avenue, Grants Pass, OR 97527. No viewing.
LAST OF THE ORIGINAL RIVER RATS: Bob Pruitt, who died last week at the age of 93, lived a full life fishing, rowing all over the Northwest.
Driving down Pruitt Place west of Grants Pass you see two wooden drift boats Bob Pruitt used to row, a garden where he grew giant vegetables, and finally, on the edge of the Rogue River, the home he and wife Jean lived for many years. She died in 2010.
His son Ernie sat on the deck Monday afternoon, taking a break from remodeling the home he's now living in, and remembered his dad.
Bob Pruitt died last week at age 93 at Norris Manor, following a stroke in January.
He leaves a Rogue River guiding legacy that began the year Ernie was born, 1948, and that covered the far ends of Oregon, Idaho, Colorado and even British Columbia, fishing and rowing for three decades.
Ernie's best memory might be when Bob rowed the Wild Rogue River canyon close to his 80th birthday, in November. Ernie, after consulting his cousin Ernest Friend, decided it was too dangerous for Bob to go, but Bob wasn't deterred. "He said 'That's OK, Ernie, I'll run your boat through any of the rapids you don't want to,'" Ernie said. "My concern for his safety went right over his head."
They went, and took Jean, and brother Steve, and they camped, Ernie recalled. "Some of the guides knew who he was. 'Bobby, Bobby, is that you?' They couldn't believe they were seeing him running a boat down there in the canyon."
Another fond memory came from 2007, one of Bob's last trips on the river, with Ernie and Ernie's daughter and grandson — four generations in the drift boat, on a short jaunt to Schroeder Park near the Pruitt home.
Ernie remembers in winters his father worked in sawmills, and hauling hay, and he'd preach at small churches in places like Hugo on Sundays. "He was a serious Christian man. Those principles were a driving force in his life," said Ernie, now an associate pastor at Jerome Prairie Bible Chuch. "All six of his children followed in his steps."
Ernie spent years as a missionary in Mongolia, Russia and New Zealand. Brother Lee also did missionary work in Kenya. Sister Mary built an orphanage in the Philippines.
Bob Pruitt was preaching and working for the U.S. Forest Service at Cascade Gorge when the voice of the Rogue River beckoned in 1948.
Famed guide Prince Helfrich, a boating companion of Pruitt's uncle "Veltie," needed a baggage boatman for the lower Rogue River, and Pruitt signed on at the age of 24. "I followed Prince and duplicated everything he did as much as possible," Pruitt said in 1996.
Pruitt rowed the McKenzie-style boats used by Helfrich and his uncle, instead of the longer Rogue River-style boat favored by Rogue old-timers.
Pruitt ran early trips on the Deschutes, Metolius, John Day, Grande Ronde, and Illinois, along with all the forks of the Salmon in Idaho, most of which saw little traffic in those days.
But he was even more of a pioneer on the Owyhee River, which slices through the high desert of far Southeastern Oregon. In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, always in the month of May, he ran Owyhee trips — about 125 in his career. "That's one of the greatest rivers in the world," he said in 1996. "It was kind of my private place for a few years." There's even a rock formation known as Pruitt's Castle, where he spent one night sleeping under the stars.
Pruitt learned a lot about the Owyhee after meeting his future wife Jean at Northwest Christian College in Eugene. Her father worked on Indian reservations in the Owyhee River country for years, and Pruitt would visit in the summer.
On the Rogue, Pruitt did fall trips in the canyon alongside the Pyle brothers, Squeak Briggs, Wayne Riggs, Glen Wooldridge, Claude Bardon, Bob Pritchett and many other river pioneers. He also did scenic boat trips in summer when no one else was doing it, other than when Grant Garcia fired up Hellgate Excursions in 1960, Ernie said.
"They were the real pioneers and blazed the trail that made it possible for guides of my generation to make a living on the river," emailed Gary Enoch, a former Rogue River guide in the 1980s and 1990s, now living in Florida. "Some were known for their fishing ability, some for their whitewater skills and others because of their personalities, but they were all legendary in their own ways and helped to create the mystique of the Rogue River. I saw (Pruitt's) obituary and was saddened, because he is the last in a long line of select individuals who were original river rats."
Pruitt's notable celebrity clients included actor Gregory Peck, World War II Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, and actress Shirley Temple Black.
The family will spread his ashes at a special camping spot near Union Creek, where the Pruitt family began camping over 100 years ago.
A service will be held at Redwood Christian Chuch west of Grants Pass, which he helped start up in the 1970s. They'll remember a man who kept his bow running straight, and who would on occasion take acquaintances down the river out of the goodness of his heart.
"He was known for being a wholesome person," Ernie said. "He had friends everywhere."
(Obit & article (by Jeff Duewel) published in the Grants Pass, OR "Daily Courier" on May 10, 2017.)
**************
The contributor met Bobby Pruitt in 1991 at an Oregon-California Trails Assn (OCTA) Convention held in Sacramento, CA. They were genealogy friends for many years. A highlight of that friendship was when Bobby took the contributor out on the Rogue River for a day's adventure, even preparing a delicious meal while out on the river. Happy Trails, Bobby!
LAST OF THE ORIGINAL RIVER RATS: Bob Pruitt, who died last week at the age of 93, lived a full life fishing, rowing all over the Northwest.
Driving down Pruitt Place west of Grants Pass you see two wooden drift boats Bob Pruitt used to row, a garden where he grew giant vegetables, and finally, on the edge of the Rogue River, the home he and wife Jean lived for many years. She died in 2010.
His son Ernie sat on the deck Monday afternoon, taking a break from remodeling the home he's now living in, and remembered his dad.
Bob Pruitt died last week at age 93 at Norris Manor, following a stroke in January.
He leaves a Rogue River guiding legacy that began the year Ernie was born, 1948, and that covered the far ends of Oregon, Idaho, Colorado and even British Columbia, fishing and rowing for three decades.
Ernie's best memory might be when Bob rowed the Wild Rogue River canyon close to his 80th birthday, in November. Ernie, after consulting his cousin Ernest Friend, decided it was too dangerous for Bob to go, but Bob wasn't deterred. "He said 'That's OK, Ernie, I'll run your boat through any of the rapids you don't want to,'" Ernie said. "My concern for his safety went right over his head."
They went, and took Jean, and brother Steve, and they camped, Ernie recalled. "Some of the guides knew who he was. 'Bobby, Bobby, is that you?' They couldn't believe they were seeing him running a boat down there in the canyon."
Another fond memory came from 2007, one of Bob's last trips on the river, with Ernie and Ernie's daughter and grandson — four generations in the drift boat, on a short jaunt to Schroeder Park near the Pruitt home.
Ernie remembers in winters his father worked in sawmills, and hauling hay, and he'd preach at small churches in places like Hugo on Sundays. "He was a serious Christian man. Those principles were a driving force in his life," said Ernie, now an associate pastor at Jerome Prairie Bible Chuch. "All six of his children followed in his steps."
Ernie spent years as a missionary in Mongolia, Russia and New Zealand. Brother Lee also did missionary work in Kenya. Sister Mary built an orphanage in the Philippines.
Bob Pruitt was preaching and working for the U.S. Forest Service at Cascade Gorge when the voice of the Rogue River beckoned in 1948.
Famed guide Prince Helfrich, a boating companion of Pruitt's uncle "Veltie," needed a baggage boatman for the lower Rogue River, and Pruitt signed on at the age of 24. "I followed Prince and duplicated everything he did as much as possible," Pruitt said in 1996.
Pruitt rowed the McKenzie-style boats used by Helfrich and his uncle, instead of the longer Rogue River-style boat favored by Rogue old-timers.
Pruitt ran early trips on the Deschutes, Metolius, John Day, Grande Ronde, and Illinois, along with all the forks of the Salmon in Idaho, most of which saw little traffic in those days.
But he was even more of a pioneer on the Owyhee River, which slices through the high desert of far Southeastern Oregon. In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, always in the month of May, he ran Owyhee trips — about 125 in his career. "That's one of the greatest rivers in the world," he said in 1996. "It was kind of my private place for a few years." There's even a rock formation known as Pruitt's Castle, where he spent one night sleeping under the stars.
Pruitt learned a lot about the Owyhee after meeting his future wife Jean at Northwest Christian College in Eugene. Her father worked on Indian reservations in the Owyhee River country for years, and Pruitt would visit in the summer.
On the Rogue, Pruitt did fall trips in the canyon alongside the Pyle brothers, Squeak Briggs, Wayne Riggs, Glen Wooldridge, Claude Bardon, Bob Pritchett and many other river pioneers. He also did scenic boat trips in summer when no one else was doing it, other than when Grant Garcia fired up Hellgate Excursions in 1960, Ernie said.
"They were the real pioneers and blazed the trail that made it possible for guides of my generation to make a living on the river," emailed Gary Enoch, a former Rogue River guide in the 1980s and 1990s, now living in Florida. "Some were known for their fishing ability, some for their whitewater skills and others because of their personalities, but they were all legendary in their own ways and helped to create the mystique of the Rogue River. I saw (Pruitt's) obituary and was saddened, because he is the last in a long line of select individuals who were original river rats."
Pruitt's notable celebrity clients included actor Gregory Peck, World War II Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, and actress Shirley Temple Black.
The family will spread his ashes at a special camping spot near Union Creek, where the Pruitt family began camping over 100 years ago.
A service will be held at Redwood Christian Chuch west of Grants Pass, which he helped start up in the 1970s. They'll remember a man who kept his bow running straight, and who would on occasion take acquaintances down the river out of the goodness of his heart.
"He was known for being a wholesome person," Ernie said. "He had friends everywhere."
(Obit & article (by Jeff Duewel) published in the Grants Pass, OR "Daily Courier" on May 10, 2017.)
**************
The contributor met Bobby Pruitt in 1991 at an Oregon-California Trails Assn (OCTA) Convention held in Sacramento, CA. They were genealogy friends for many years. A highlight of that friendship was when Bobby took the contributor out on the Rogue River for a day's adventure, even preparing a delicious meal while out on the river. Happy Trails, Bobby!
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
