PETER GANTENBEIN
World Council founder Gantenbein dies at 70.
R. Peter Gantenbein, one of the founders of the World Affairs Council of Oregon and grandson of a pioneer publisher of The Oregonian, died Monday in a care center in Wheeler where he had resided the last nine months. Mr. Gantenbein, a native Portlander, died the day after his 70th birthday.
Mr. Gantenbein helped organize the World Affairs Council in 1949. He later served two terms as the council's president, several terms on its board of directors and retired in 1980 after six years as the council's executive director.
He also served two terms as president of the Urban League of Portland. He had been a member of the Lewis and Clark College board of overseers and was active in the Portland chapter of the United Nations Association.
The son of John Edward Gantenbein and Helen Louise "Lucy" Pittock Gantenbein, Mr. Gantenbein was born Aug. 20, 1914 in the Pittock Mansion. The Northwest Portland mansion was built by his grandfather, Henry L. Pittock, who was publisher of The Oregonian from 1860 to 1919 and transformed the newspaper from weekly to daily publication.
In 1964 Pittock heirs, including Mr. Gantenbein, sold the mansion to the city of Portland for $225,000. The city's Park Bureau maintains the mansion as a museum and social function site, open to the public.
Mr. Gantenbein attended the University of Oregon and Reed College and was graduated from Cambridge University in England. During the 1940s he worked as a reporter and staff member of The Oregonian's Farm, Home and Garden Section and was an officer on the board of The Oregonian Publishing Co. He was The Oregonian's production manager at the time the newspaper was sold by Pittock heirs to S. I. Newhouse in 1950.
Before moving to Wheeler, Mr. Gantenbein resided in Southwest Portland. Mr. Gantenbein is survived by a sister, Georgiana Aston of Portland; and seven nephews and nieces.
A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Aug. 28 in the First Unitarian Church.
[The Oregonian, 22 Aug 1984, p100; w/photo]
also
Portland's Pittock Mansion Has A Dark And Haunted History (allthatsinteresting.com) Henry Pittock, a London-born newspaper publisher, and his wife Georgiana met and married in Portland in 1860. Henry went on to become one of the wealthiest men in Oregon society, investing in a variety of industries, including railroads, banking, ranching, and mining. He was also an avid climber and outdoorsman.
He helped to found Mazamas climbing club and became part of the first expedition climb Mount Hood.
Georgiana was also an active member of society, becoming involved in many cultural organizations and charities, including the Women’s Union and the Ladies Relief Society. She helped to found the Martha Washington Home, a residence for working women. She was also an enthusiastic gardener and was a founding member of the Portland Rose Society and the Portland Rose Festival.
In 1909, the Pittocks decided they wanted to build a home in Portland to retire in.
They hired the architect Edward T. Foulke to design the Pittock Mansion from scratch. The forty-six room mansion was built on a hill overlooking Portland with a French Renaissance exterior. The inside was uniquely designed, with oak-paneled cabinets, marble floors, a huge central staircase, modern amenities like an elevator and dumbwaiter, and, most strikingly, beautiful views of Mount Hood and the Cascade Mountain Range. Foil lines the inside of the entryway ceiling, a nod to Georgianna’s frugal early years, when she had to save foil from old tea containers.
Wikimedia Commons Henry Pittock, the brains behind the haunted Pittock Mansion.
The Pittock Mansion was completed in 1914 when Georgiana was 68 years old and Henry was 80. Sadly, the couple did not have many years left together to enjoy the home they had built. Georgiana passed away in 1918, just four years after construction was completed, and Henry died the following year. Members of the Pittock family remained in the home for many years, until their grandson, Peter Gantenbein, who had grown up in the house, attempted to sell it in 1958.
Gantenbein was unable to sell it and the house sat empty for several years. It was severely damaged as a result of the massive Columbus Day Storm of 1962, and Gantenbein contemplated having the mansion destroyed. However, the community rallied around the famous site, and Portland residents donated $75,000 to help the city purchase and restore the old home.
The City of Portland officially bought the Pittock Mansion in 1964, and a nonprofit was formed to take responsibility for the upkeep of the house. They spent just over a year repairing and restoring the mansion, and, in 1965, it reopened as the Pittock Mansion Museum. It is open daily to the public for touring.