Eugene G. Pollman: 1935-2020

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Eugene G. Pollman went to be with his Lord and Savior May 7, 2020. Cause of death was cancer. Eugene was born in Centralia, Wash., April 3, 1935, to Raymond and Elveda Pollman. He attended schools in Reno, Nev., Centralia and Chehalis, Wash.

Upon high school graduation, he and his brother Jack went to work with his father-in-law John Ostrom in the logging industry, bucking and falling logs.

From 1958 to 1960, he and Jack worked in Alaska to earn seed money to each buy their first ranch in Chehalis, where Gene raised cattle and many award-winning purebred Arabian horses.

He later bought a lumber mill in Idaho with his father-in-law, which they operated for many years together, and where his son Michael eventually joined them.

Gene was involved in all phases of the logging, timber and lumber industries, and owned and operated logging companies in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Alaska. He was also a partner in a venture wood-chipping business in California.

While Gene ran his businesses, he remained active raising, showing and judging Arabian horses. He was selected as a judge for the U.S. Arabian Nationals in 1978. He passed his love of Arabian horses to his children, whose activities with horses he strongly supported throughout their early years.

But as passionate as Gene was about logging and Arabian horses, nothing meant more to him than his loving family. He is survived by daughters, Sherry (John) Wheeler of Olympia, Wash., Cindy (Rick) Rakoz of Chehalis, Wash., Tracie Pollman of Myrtle Creek, Ore., Teresa Pollman of Medford, Ore., and Sara (Damon) Farrington of Redmond, Wash; sons Michael (Dorothy) Pollman of Lenore, Idaho, and Paul Pollman of White City, Ore.; brothers Dean Pollman of Tualatin, Ore., and Keith Pollman of Reno, Nev.; his wife Connie and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers, Jack Pollman and Bobby Pollman, and sister Diane.

A Celebration of Life gathering to honor Eugene G. Pollman is scheduled for Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 1 p.m. at the home of Rick and Cindy Rakoz, 221 Vista Road, Chehalis, WA. Guests are asked to bring pictures or memorabilia of Gene for the memory table. Lunch will be served, so please RSVP to (360) 880-2476.