Walter David Eichner

Walter D. Eichner died peacefully on Friday, June 19, 2020, at a rest home in Albany, OR. He was 84. Walter was born in Berkeley, California to Ernest and Alice (Michaelson) Eichner. He attended Berkeley High school, where he was president of his fraternity, and graduated in 1954. He married his High school sweetheart, Carroll Shoemake, shortly after graduation. Walter then entered U.C. Berkeley, where he studied architecture and economics. He took a B.A. degree in Economics in1960.Thereafter he began a highly successful career with Atlantic-Richfield Oil Company. Walter progressed from sales to regional trainer, thence to employee-relations and ultimately to Director of the Atlantic-Richfield Foundation. There he funded many local and national non-profit organizations such as Para los Niños and the San Diego Zoo. These career advancements required him to make two cross-country moves from California to New Jersey and back again in the early 1970s. He finished his career as ARCO’s Director of Public Relations and retired from the company in 1986. Walter and Carroll searched exhaustively throughout the West Coast for the perfect place to retire. They fell in love with Corvallis and moved in 1992. They embraced life in the Pacific Northwest with frequent local travel and gardening. Walter enjoyed reading, playing piano, cooking, and a regular fitness regimen at Fitness Over 50, where he had many friends. He also joined Beaver Nation as a devoted fan of OSU baseball, enjoying season tickets with family and friends at Goss Stadium for over 20 years, including all three National Titles. Walter is survived by his children Stephen Eichner of Salem, Suzanne Elberfeld of Corvallis, and grandsons Christopher and Kenneth Cavalier of Edmond, Oklahoma. Carroll, his wife of 57 years, died in 2011. His youngest daughter, Sandra Cavalier, passed away in Oklahoma City on June 12, 2020. A private memorial service will be held at the Oregon Coast on a later date. Donations may be made to Benton County Hospice in Corvallis.