CORVALLIS - Prominent Benton County attorney John B. Fenner and wife, Dorothy Harstad Fenner, have received the 2002 Jean and Crawford H. "Scram" Gram Alumni Service Award, sponsored annually by the OSU Alumni Association.

Dale Clark, president of the OSU Alumni Association, cited the couple for their life-long devotion to the organization. He praised them as alumni "who deserve our lasting gratitude for all their years of sincere and productive service to OSU."

A 1940 graduate of Oregon State, John Fenner is a founding partner of the Corvallis law firm Fenner, Barnhisel, Willis and Barlow, and was Benton County District Attorney from 1967-71.

In addition to his many community service projects involving the United Way, Chamber of Commerce and the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, Fenner has held numerous leadership positions both in the OSU Alumni Association and in the OSU Foundation, including that of chairman of the board, trustee, and legal counsel for the foundation, and alumni association president in 1961.
He was named the foundation's Volunteer of the Year in 1988 and received the OSU Alumni Association's Dan Poling Award for outstanding service to OSU in 1989. Dorothy Harstad Fenner received both bachelor's (1939) and master's (1942) degrees from OSU and has been a mainstay in volunteer service to both the Corvallis community and the alumni association since the couple's permanent move to the city in 1954.

For the past 30 years, she has served as the official accompanist at all alumni gatherings for the singing of the OSU alma mater and other college favorites. She is a founding member of the Corvallis Symphony Association and, along with John, an avid supporter of OSU's Department of Music.

The Fenners were married in 1940. Both are Army veterans of World War II - John as an infantry officer and recipient of the French Croix de Guerre, and Dorothy as an officer in the WACs assigned as a "Code Breaker" at the historic Two Rock Ranch Station in Petaluma, Calif.

The Jean and C.H. "Scram" Graham Award was established by the OSU Alumni Association in 1999 to honor former OSU alumni director Crawford H. Graham and wife, Jean. The award recognizes individuals who have given exemplary volunteer service to the association.

Source: 

Alumni Association, 541-737-2351

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