Biography
Andrew S. Landforce was born in Seattle, Washington in 1917. His early years were spent on a farm in Snoqualmie, Washington. After graduating from high school during the Great Depression, Andy migrated to Alaska following work. In 1938, after two years of aiming hydraulic cannons at Alaskan hillsides in search of gold, he applied to Oregon State College "to find a way out of common labor." Attending OSC from 1938-1942 and majoring in agriculture, he lived in Poling Hall (now Weatherford Hall), Room 228. He was a member of the OSC 1942 Rose Bowl football team, travelling to Durham, North Carolina. He was also ASOSC Student Body President in 1941-42 and a member of Blue Key National Honor Society, Alpha Zeta National Honorary Agriculture Fraternity, and Scabbard and Blade – the National Honor Society in Military Science and Tactics.
After graduation in 1942, Landforce was commissioned in the U.S. Army. Lieutenant Landforce's first assignment was to coordinate the training of dog sled drivers, who were needed to extract expensive equipment from bombers downed in the frozen north. After receiving promotion to Captain, he was assigned as company commander of the 3533rd Quartermaster and Trucking Company, an all-black unit headed by white officers. His unit was assigned to the 9th U.S. Army, 5 September 1944 - 5 May 1945 and stationed in England. After VE day, the 3533rd was transferred to the Pacific, landing in the Philippines. Landforce's command was slated to be part of the invading forces to Japan when the war ended in August 1945.
Following World War II, Landforce began a career with the OSU Extension Service. Offered a job by Frank Ballard in 1946, he became the first Extension Agent in eastern Oregon's Wallowa County, where he stayed for seven years. He was recognized as Junior First Citizen of Wallowa County in 1949. Returning to Corvallis in 1953, Landforce was appointed as the first Extension Specialist in Wildlife Management Education for the Federal Cooperative Extension Service of OSU. Later in his career, he was statewide coordinator for 4-H programs, developing leader training workshops and wildlife outdoor schools during the late 1950s.
Landforce retired from OSU Extension in 1971, but continued to be involved with Extension affairs for a number of years following. At this same time, he began a new career as a fishing guide on Oregon's rivers, which he pursued for an additional seventeen years. He is a founding member of the Association of Northwest Steelheaders.
Andy and Evelyn Landforce settled in Corvallis and raised three children. Evelyn passed away in 2012, shortly before what would have been the couple's 70th wedding anniversary.