Obituary
Long time Sandy resident and local business owner Les Geren died September 12, 2021. He was 71 years old. He was well loved in the Sandy and Boring communities and co-owner of Geren’s Farm Supply.
He was born Leslie Walter Geren to Donald Geren and Mary Patricia Dippel in Medford and grew up in Eagle Point.
Les and Kathy met in high school and were bandmates, but did not marry until they were in their 20’s. They both played in the band, Les the trumpet, and Kathy the flute. Les later decided to switch to the French horn so he could sit beside the cute blonde. From the beginning Les was a flirt and of course won Kathy over and they were never separated after. Kathy lost her best friend this week.
Les and Kathy were married 51 years and have one child, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Les joined the Navy while in high school and upon graduating was shipped off to serve in Vietnam. He served in the Navy reserves until 1973. Les was an alumnus of Oregon State University. He and Kathy moved to Sandy in 1974. Les taught agriculture at Sandy High School for 10 years, where he was also the FFA advisor, taking many teams to national competitions in that time. Les also taught at Clackamas Community College for a couple of years. During the same period of time, Les and his wife bought the feed store from Karl McDermed in August of 1981 and changed the name to Geren's Farm Supply. Later he became a substitute teacher because his daughter was in school. She loved having him there and her friends loved it too.
Les and his wife have owned and operated Geren's for 40 years, serving many animal lovers and farmers in the Sandy area with a smile and often a funny anecdote or joke for the road.
Les had a heart for giving back to the community that has supported his family business for so many years. He was a longtime member of the Sandy Kiwanis Club, helping out annually with the Christmas Basket Program for families in need and with the summer Cruise-In breakfast and car show. Through the family business, Les also hosted a special visit with Santa for children in the community in December and a special visit for children with sensory processing issues or autism.
The Gerens have sponsored several events over the years, from preschools and churches to FFA and 4-H clubs. Besides the Kiwanis, Les also served with the Shriners, the Sandy FFA Alumni, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Freemasons.
The family is encouraging those who'd like to honor Les' memory to make a donation to the Shriner's Hospital at lovetotherescue.org or the Sandy Kiwanis Club at sandykiwanis.org in his memory.
Les is survived by wife Kathy Geren, daughter Roz (Chris) Rushing, grandson Dakota (Iris) Rushing and Shelby (Sam) Mauldin, two great-grandchildren and his two dogs.
The family asks that anyone who wishes to share photos or memories, post them to the store's Facebook page at facebook.com/gerensfarmsupply, drop off physical copies at the feed store or email them to [email protected].