Bob Eisele, former Gresham fire marshal, dies at 88

By Sharon Nesbit

The Gresham Outlook, Dec 16, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Bob Eisele promised to go fishing after retiring in 1983.

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David Bob Eisele, a retired Gresham fire marshal and for a brief period the city fire chief, died Saturday, Dec. 12, at the age of 88 in Gresham.

Services will be at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 18, at Willamette National Cemetery, 11800 S.E. Mount Scott Blvd., Portland.

Eisele, who preferred to use “Bob” as a first name, retired in 1983 after serving 16 years as Gresham’s fire marshal. He began work with the city of Gresham as a building inspector, but most of his years with the city were spent in the fire marshal’s office. Once retired, he went to work helping his son, Hugh, manage berry farm properties in Sandy and Boring. Bob rarely missed a day, seven days a week, of going out to the farm.

He suffered a fall about a week before he died, “basically discharged himself from the hospital, and went home to die because he didn’t want anything to do with being sick,” said his son, Hugh.

Bob Eisele was renowned in City Hall for his sense of humor. In 1983 he told fellow employees he was retiring to take up “wood butchering,” His parting gift from the city was a portable table saw and work bench. Eisele also advised co-workers that he would be doing some fishing and his retirement was proof of that. He also liked spending time with his grandchildren.

He was born Sept. 27, 1921, in Longmont, Colo., to Fred and Merle (Sanger) Eisele. He graduated from Longmont High School. The family farmed for a living.

He joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1942 in the early days of World War II, and because he was able to ride horses, was sent to Cannon Beach shortly after the submarine attack on Fort Stevens to patrol the Oregon beaches against Japanese invaders. He then took part in the land invasions of New Guinea, Leyte Island and Okinawa.

“My dad never talked about the war,” said his son, Hugh.

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