Mourning for Sen. Peter Courtney is bipartisan
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, July 17th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
SALEM – Leaders from both parties expressed their respect and love for former Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem), who died Tuesday. Courtney was the longest serving member of the Oregon Legislature. He spent 14 years in the House of Representatives and 24 years in the Senate, serving as senate president for 20 years before he retired in January 2023.
“Sen. Peter Courtney was a friend and a colleague,” Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena) said. “He was the Senate President all but two of the years I served in the Senate. He loved Oregon. Peter also loved the Oregon Legislature, its history and its traditions.
Hansell said that Courtney’s door was always open to him and he helped get a number of important bills passed for Eastern Oregon. One of Hansell’s memorable moments was also important to Courtney as well.
“Today was a big day in the Senate as Oregon became the first state capitol in the country to open an electric wheelchair charging station,” Courtney wrote on his Facebook page in June 2017. “I was honored to join Senator Bill Hansell and his constituent Darrin Umbarger of Pendleton who created the charging station after experiencing first-hand the challenges of powering his own mobile device.”
“My prayers go out to Margie and the Courtney family during this time of loss,” Hansell said.
Photo from Senate President Peter Courtney’s Facebook page. L-R Sen. Hansell, Darrin Umbarger, Sen. President Courtney.
