Leonard L. Ferns

Leonard Larson “Chief” Ferns, 98, the last of the grandchildren of William Thomas Ferns and Amelia Buckley Carver, passed away peacefully at his home on December 8, 2024. Leonard was born on January 22, 1926, in the old farmhouse in Fern Valley to Archie Louis Ferns and Ida (Larsen) Ferns. He attended grade school in the one room Fern Valley School and graduated from Phoenix High School in 1944. He joined the Merchant Marine and made two voyages in the Pacific aboard the Tanker S.S Multnomah. After WW II, he was drafted into the US Army and served in the Army Air Corp on Guam. He returned to the Rogue Valley where he began working in the woods, first as a Choker Setter and later as a Cat Operator for Skeeters & Skeeters and Dean Wilson Logging where he became known as “Chief”.

Leonard married the young Barbara Phillips on January 3, 1948. The couple had four children, Mark, Ray, Susan, and Alan. He continued working in the woods, supplementing his income by pruning in the orchards, and running a trapline in the winter months. He moved his growing family back onto the land first acquired by his great-great-grandfather Ebenezer Waterman Carver in 1868, building his house along Payne Road in 1955. Following the death of his brother Lloyd in 1981, he began working as a partner on the Ferns Cattle Ranch while at the same time continuing to work in the woods, operating heavy equipment while building roads. In his later years he enjoyed exploring the western US with Barbara.

Leonard spent most of his life outdoors. One of his first paying jobs as a youth was driving horses with his Uncle Lovell, dragging a cleaning chain along the Rogue River Irrigation District’s canal. He recalled stories of how his dad, Archie, and he would travel by horseback during the winter months of the Depression to check on a family living up behind Mt. Baldy. He was an experienced hunter who was one of the “long - legged Swedes” that roamed the ridge lands between Mt. Baldy and Grizzly Peak, hunting clear into his 95th birthday. He enjoyed fishing, at one time owning a small recreational boat that he took out of Brookings in search in of salmon. He was proficient in the use of a metal detector and retained a life-long interest in exploring new countries.

Leonard was predeceased by his wife, Barbara, in 2003 ,and his son Ray, in 2022. He is survived by his three children, Alan, Susan, and Mark, eight grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren who will all miss him deeply. A “Weekend Celebration Life” will be held at the RoxyAnn Winery in Medford, Or. Sunday, June 8, 2025. 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Leonard’s name to the White City VA Medical Center.