Obituary of Jeffry John Ream

Jeff was born in Astoria, Oregon to James and Elva Ream. The family moved soon after to the Portland area, where Jeff was a lifelong resident except for several years in Ketchikan, Alaska. Jeff graduated from the University of Oregon and pursued Masters level work in several subjects. He met Chieko Takezawa while teaching Japanese at Portland State, and they later married in 1994. In 2008 he retired from teaching. His interests included fishing, mushroom hunting, and reading/book collecting, but his greatest passion was vegetable gardening, especially growing unique and unusual varieties of heirloom/hybrid tomatoes from seeds. He grew 30 different varieties tomatoes and he called it “Diversity in the Tomato Garden Project. Jeff is survived by his wife Chieko Takezawa; sister Laurie Smith; brother John Ream; step brother Don Foster; niece Tressa Soto Cobos; and nephews Andy Smith and Ben Ream. A memorial will be held at 1:30 PM on Saturday, March 14 at Metzger Park, 8400 SW Hemlock, Portland. In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to Homeward Bound Pets (formerly Evergreen Doe).