Cancer claims Cliff Gutwig, 73

Clifford Gutwig, a 49-year member of Painters and Drywall Finishers Local 10, died Dec. 8 following a short bout with cancer. He was 73.

Gutwig was at his Troutdale home with his wife of 49 years, 10 months, his four children and their spouses.

Gutwig served as apprenticeship coordinator for the Oregon-SW Washington Painters Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for 12 years, and as a business representative of Local 10 for 5 1/2 years.

He was a certified Occupational Safety and Health instructor for the Painters Union, having completed courses at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies in Maryland and at the National Center for Research in Vocational Education at Ohio State University. He received numerous merit awards from the Portland Public School District and area community colleges for his “exemplary support and guidance” to career and vocational education for students.

Prior to becoming a business agent in 1972, he worked in the building trades as a drywall finisher. He also was active in the Oregon Building Congress. He retired in 1992.

Clifford Allen Gutwig was born July 29, 1931 in Billings, Montana. His parents, Jacob and Margaret Katherine, were Russian immigrants who moved from Brunnendal, Russia, to the United States in 1913.

The family moved to Portland in 1940. Clifford graduated from Portland’s Jefferson High School in 1948. He served in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserves from 1950 to 1958. An Airman First Class, he was stationed at Rothwestern Air Base in Germany, where he was a military police officer.

He married Lois Carol Shawcross on Feb. 7, 1955. They had four children: Margaret, Michael, Judy and Jon.

Gutwig was active in Little League Baseball, where he coached and managed teams for 11 years. At one stretch over a three-year period his teams compiled a 40-3 record. He managed tournament teams in Rocky Butte Little League for five consecutive years.

Gutwig is survived by his wife; sons, Michael and his spouse Lori Clark of Troutdale, Jon and his spouse Shari Stratton of Damascus; daughters Margaret Richardson and her spouse Mark of Vancouver, Wash.; Judy Knutson and her spouse Darwin of Aloha; eight grandchildren, Chad and Emily Evans, Leslie and Megan Gutwig, Amy and Ryan Knutson, and Jeremy and Jordan Gutwig; a sister, Genevieve Bacon; and a step-sister, Esther Diede.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Edward; step-sisters Mary and Sally, and step-brother Jack.

Michael Gutwig is a member of Office and Professional Employees Local 11, Jon Gutwig is a member of Teamsters Local 305, and Chad Evans is a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555.

Clifford also was a member of Local 305 after high school as a driver for Miller’s Dairy.

Clifford and Lois traveled extensively during retirement, enjoying such places as Germany, Italy, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Nova Scotia, to name a few of their destinations. They also traveled to all 50 states in the U.S., and over a two-month period in 2000 traveled by automobile through 23 states.

In 1998, Clifford took his entire family — children, spouses and grandchildren (17 in all) — to Maui, Hawaii. Two years later he took the family to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

In October 2004, Clifford and Lois were on a month-long trip to Portugal and Spain when he contracted pneumonia. He was hospitalized for two weeks in Torremolinos, Spain, a small town off the Mediterranean Sea, before being medically cleared to fly home.

In Portland, doctors initially discovered cancer in a lung and around his heart. Further tests revealed the cancer had metastasized to his brain.

Gutwig was cremated at Autumn Funerals and Cremations and a portion of his ashes were interred at Willamette National Cemetery. A portion of his ashes also will be released at a favorite getaway in Yachats on the Central Oregon Coast.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 17, at Christ the Vine Lutheran Church, 18677 SE Hwy. 212, Clackamas, Ore.

© Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc.