Barry Brian Ostrom

Barry Brian Ostrom's courageous battle with stomach cancer ended June 24, 2010. He was 71 years old. The youngest of four children, Barry was born in the family home near Everson, Washington to Swedish parents Oscar and Gladys (Sahlbom) Ostrom on March 29, 1939. He graduated from Nooksack Valley High School where he excelled in academics, track, and earned a state farmer degree in FFA. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in accounting from Western Washington University and an MBA from Washington State University.
In 1964 Barry came to Oregon. He worked as a fiscal auditor for the secretary of state's division of audits for four years. Following an audit of then Oregon College of Education, he was offered a job as the college's first budget officer. He served in that position for 13 years. In 1981 Barry became personnel-payroll manager for the Oregon State System of Higher Education, working out of the controller's division at Oregon State University. In 1986 Governor Atiyeh presented Barry with the award for outstanding management service employee in the department of higher education. After retiring in 1994, he remained active as a consultant at Western Oregon University. He also taught preparation classes for the Certified Payroll Professional examination, and founded two chapters of the American Payroll Association.
Barry married Margaret Couper in 1967. Three sons were born of that marriage which ended in divorce. He married Diane Alderson in August 1980. Together they had one daughter.
Barry served eight years in the Oregon National Guard as a cook, which fostered a life-long hobby in food preparation, especially Scandinavian recipes. He grew a big garden and was known for his beautiful dahlias. The Ostrom family exhibited award winning produce and flowers at the Polk County and Oregon State fairs for many years.
Together Barry and Diane led a 4-H horticulture club. Barry received the distinguished service award in 2009 from the Polk County 4-H Leaders Association for his years serving as treasurer of that group.
In his retirement, Barry helped Diane prepare projects for her second grade classes at Santiam Christian School. In 1998 Barry and Diane accompanied the Santiam Christian High School choir on a mission trip to Latvia. The trip included four days of training in east-west ministries in southern Sweden. That experience resulted in a passion for genealogy, and he made subsequent trips in 2001 and 2005 to visit relatives. He taught himself to read and write Swedish and was an active member of Tre Kronor, Vasa Order of America. He also served as a Scandinavian cultural consultant for the World Beat Festival. As part of the Monmouth writers group, he honed his writing skills for family history projects and produced various styles of poetry. He was a member of Monmouth Christian Church.
He was preceded in death by his parents and son, Eric. Survivors include his wife of nearly 30 years, Diane; sons Karl (Heather) of Valley Center, CA and Glen of Monmouth, OR; daughter Karyn of New York, NY; brothers Arthur (Dee) of Mt. Vernon, WA, Dixon (Carol) of Vancouver, WA; sister Myrna Mills of Leaburg, OR and four grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for Thursday, July 1, at 11 AM at Monmouth Christian Church, 959 W. Church St., Monmouth. Memorial contributions can be made to Monmouth Christian Church's "Helping Hands" food bank, Santiam Christian Schools missions fund, or Samaritan Evergreen Hospice of Albany.