Frank Leland Woodrum

On Friday, October 8, 2021, Frank Leland Woodrum, loving husband, brother, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather passed away peacefully in his sleep in Salem, Oregon at the age of 96.Frank was born on November 6, 1924, in Baldwin Park, California to Coy and Louise Woodrum.  On February 14, 1948, he married his wife, Pauline Asher, at a gas station in Oregon City. He raised two daughters, Sandra Lewallen and Lynda Rule, later marrying Catherin Esau on July 6, 1974. Frank entered the military on December 28, 1941, at the young age of 17 with a sixth-grade education. He initially served on the USS Charleston. His dislike of the cold and ice prompted a transfer request, and he was moved to a submarine in the Aleutian Islands. Continuing to dislike the cold, he requested another transfer and was subsequently sent to Algiers in North Africa. He was finally warm.  Frank was deployed to Utah Beach when the US invaded Normandy on D Day.  After his time in service, he held multiple small jobs and then landed a position at Wrights Trucking in approximately 1953.  He made history by being the first to be allowed to pull triple trailers in the state of Oregon and had an excellent safety record. He stayed with Wright Trucking until they were bought out by Silver Wheels Trucking and then he remained employed for Silver Wheels until retiring at the age of 55.  Frank loved the outdoors and was an avid hunter and fisherman.  He was known for having shot a deer every year for 20 years before his streak was ended by a very dry fall, making hunting deer nearly impossible. He was also a dedicated churchgoer and was well known and loved at the Assembly of God Church on the Hill in Turner, Oregon. Frank was preceded in death by his sister, Elberta Babb; brother Austin Woodrum, wives Pauline Asher and Catherine Esau, and half-sister Lela Wuellner. He is survived by his daughters, Sandra Lewallen and Lynda Rule; stepchildren Phil Esau, Tony Esau and Evelyn Donaldson;  7 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.