With Great Sadness-Don Bougher

We are very sad to announce that POCI club founder Don Bougher passed away on the evening of Wednesday, November 22nd, after an extended illness. Please keep his wife, Pat Bougher, and family in your prayers. A memorial service for Don will be held from 2-4 pm on Sunday, December 10, 2023.  Service will be in the banquet room of the McNary Restaurant at 165 McNary Estates Dr in Kizer OR 97303.

Pat Bougher mailing address is PO Box 5108, Salem OR 97304

Because Don spent his life working for the betterment of children's lives, any donations could be sent to St Judes Children's Research Hospital or to the Shriner's Hospitals for Children-Pat Bougher

Donald Bougher Obituary

Obituary published on Legacy.com by Keizer Funeral Chapel on Dec. 1, 2023.

Donald Alvin Bougher, 83, of Keizer, Oregon, passed away on November 22, 2023. He was born on January 10, 1940 to Alvin and Helen Bougher in San Diego, California. Don graduated from Escondido High School in 1957. In 1959 he graduated from Palomar Junior College and in 1963 he received his B.A. From San Diego State College.

Don met his future wife Pat at a roller skating rink in Escondido in 1958 and they married in Escondido in 1962.

Following a year's apprenticeship at a San Diego Mortuary, he joined the Army where he was a specialist in charge of a leadership evaluation unit at Fort Jackson, S.C. Upon his discharge from the Army Don attended the College of Mortuary Science at Los Angeles where he was elected class president and was gratuated Magna Cum Laude. After working as a funeral director for over 7 years, Don needed a new challenge and began his life-long career as a Social Worker where he worked with families in need of assistance, but especially with children who had many and varied needs.

In 1979 Don and his wife Pat left Escondido and moved to a farm they had purchased just south of Dayton, Oregon, and a couple of years later they planted a hazelnut orchard. Don soon felt a need to return to working with children and worked for the State of Oregon in several capacities but always centered around the needs of children. He worked in Washington County and later in Salem.

While Don was always interested in old cars, about 1970 he purchased a 1926 Pontiac Landau Sedan. The car was in good shape but the radiator shell was in desperate need of replacement. He advertised for a shell and corresponded with anyone that owned an early Pontiac - with no luck. Finally, he decided to start a club for Pontiac owners. The club was originally the Pontiac Owners Club International in 1972. At a later date, the name was changed to the Pontiac-Oakland Club, International. That club is now 52 years old and is truly an international club, with members from around the world. At one time there were over 12,000 members. Due to the internet that number has dwindled..

Don retired from the Department of Human Services in November 2002 but found he didn't like retirement, so he then worked part time as needed.
In 2015, Don retired from farming, sold the property in Dayton, OR and he and his wife Pat moved to Keizer.

Don is survived by his wife Pat, his brother Jim Bougher and wife Diane of Salem, OR; his niece Bridgett and husband Jim Highley of Dallas, OR; his niece Lisa and husband Chuck Sekafetz of Dallas, OR; cousin Joyce Micochero of Toledo Ohio; and great nieces and nephews; and great-great nephews and nieces.

Because Don spent his life working for the betterment of children's lives, any donations could be sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or to the Shriner's Hospitals for Children.

A celebration of Don's life is scheduled for December 10, 2023, from 2-4 PM in the banquet room of the McNary Restaurant at 165 McNary Estates Drive N in Keizer, Oregon.