Iconic mural showcasing 1990s Portland luminaries is back: How many faces do you recognize?

Courtesy Oregon Historical Society

By Douglas Perry, The Oregonian/OregonLive

It's Portland's own version of the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" LP cover. The 8 ½-foot by 4 ½-foot watercolor mural features 54 famous Portland faces -- famous in the 1990s, at least, when it was created by the late artist Bill Papas. For years the work was showcased in a restaurant at downtown Portland's Hilton Hotel.

Some of the Portlanders immortalized in the mural remain widely known today, including Columbia Sportswear chief Gert Boyle, Nike co-founder Phil Knight, the late Portland mayor Vera Katz and disgraced former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt. But there are also many faces that have migrated to the backburner of our collective memory. This isn’t Papas’ fault -- his mural was a local favorite until the hotel removed it during a 2014 remodel. It’s just that times change.

So below we reintroduce you to 21 of these accomplished Portlanders -- and, at the end, we put names to all the rest of the likenesses in the mural.

The Hilton donated the artwork to the Oregon Historical Society, which will publicly display it from March 15 until April 15.

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Shirley Berselli

The wife of Dr. Robert Berselli and the mother of six, Shirley was a dedicated volunteer in the Portland area, serving on the board of directors for the Metropolitan Family Service, Portland Opera and the Oregon Symphony, among other organizations. She was an active volunteer at Riverdale Grade School, where her kids received their early education. The March of Dimes recognized her with its "Woman of Achievement" award in 1998. Berselli died in 2009 at 68.

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Owen Blank

The Stanford Law grad is a longtime Portland attorney who has devoted himself to helping area non-profit organizations. "Owen is one of the most caring human beings I have ever had the good fortune to meet," Albina Head Start executive director Ronnie Herndon said in 2014 when AHS renamed one of its buildings after Blank. "He is truly a friend for thousands of low-income children and families that have few champions," Herndon added. "I am not sure if he will ever realize how many children and families he has helped and will never meet."

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Gwyneth Booth

The former Oregon Public Broadcasting journalist has served on the board of directors of Portland General Electric and other organizations. "She was the voice of conscience for all of us," a fellow PGE board member once said. The Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors designated her and husband Brian as "Portland's First Citizens" in 1999. "The Booths have become key players in Portland's ongoing renaissance, working behind the scenes to promote local culture and social healing," The Oregonian wrote. (Brian died in 2012.) In 2017, Gwyneth received the DePreist Award for Excellence, honoring her service to the community.

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James DePreist

Anyone who lived in Portland in the 1980s and '90s surely still recognizes DePreist's visage. The conductor, wrote the New York Times, "transformed the [Oregon Symphony] from a good regional group to an esteemed one" -- a success derived from both his musicianship and the power of his personality. "DePreist's wit and intelligence," wrote The Oregonian, "proved irresistible to politicians and wealthy donors as well as to waiters and cab drivers, who called him 'Jimmy.'" DePreist, the nephew of pioneering contralto Marian Anderson, launched his career in 1964 by winning the prestigious Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition for Conductors. The triumph came not long after a bout with polio had left his legs paralyzed. Later in life, he published well-regarded poetry, taught at The Juilliard School and, in 2005, received the National Medal of Arts. DePreist died in 2013 at 76.

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Sho Dozono

The Portland travel-agency owner led school-funding efforts and served on various civic boards in the 1990s. He received the Tom McCall Award in 2002 for his "spirit and service to Oregon," and the same year his professional peers across the country named him "Travel Agent of the Year." A local magazine called him "Mr. Portland." Despite having earned such goodwill, Dozono failed in a 2008 mayoral bid. Seven years later, his company was forced into bankruptcy as the internet decimated the travel-planning industry.

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John Eskildsen

The retired president of U.S. Bank of Oregon has served on various local boards over the years. These include the OHSU Foundation, SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) and the Medical Research Foundation. He is the former director of the Portland Chamber of Commerce.

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Peggy Fowler

The chemist and George Fox University graduate joined Portland General Electric in the 1970s and served as its CEO from 2000 to 2009. "Widely regarded as one of Oregon's most admired executives, Fowler continues to serve as a mentor for other women seeking to reach the top rungs of the corporate ladder," the Oregon Historical Society stated in 2015 when it honored her as an "Oregon History Maker."

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Stan Geffen

Comedian Bob Newhart, a former accountant, proved that numbers crunchers can have a sense of humor. Geffen, a longtime partner with influential Portland accounting firm Geffen Mesher, believes it's absolutely necessary. "It's essential," he says on the firm's website. "I laugh at myself every day. You have to in this business."

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Dr. Joseph Ha

The South Korean native and Columbia University graduate chaired Lewis & Clark College's International Affairs program for 22 years. During that time, wrote the college in a tribute, the beloved professor "developed [the program's] reputation for sending well-prepared students on to top graduate programs and significant international careers." After retiring from Lewis & Clark, Ha worked at Nike, where "he helped shape [the company's] stature in international business," The Oregonian wrote. He received the Portland Consular Corps International Citizenship Award, among many other honors. Dr. Ha died in 2011.

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Jerry Hulsman

The prominent Portland money manager and philanthropist helped lead the fundraising charge for the Oregon Symphony when James DePreist was reshaping the orchestra’s ambitions and reputation. Hulsman also served as a trustee of the OHSU Foundation and has raised money for other local organizations.

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Roy Jay

The businessman launched various non-profit organizations focused on helping the African-American community in Portland. "[Y]ou always have to reach back and help somebody else out," he said in 1999. Jay, who once joked that he was "bolder and spicier" than other local entrepreneurs, has been celebrated for his success -- and he's also faced questions about his business practices. Last year, he agreed to a settlement to end a Justice Dept. investigation into the alleged mismanagement of funds at Project Clean Slate and other charities he founded. Jay did not admit wrongdoing.

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Sharon LaCroix Kitzhaber

Before former Gov. John Kitzhaber and Cylvia Hayes became Oregon's high-profile (and problematic) power couple in the mid-2000s, John was married to Sharon LaCroix, a physical therapist who described herself as "a prairie girl from Saskatchewan." Sharon threw herself into various advocacy causes during her time as the state's first lady in the 1990s. She once listed the Dalai Lama, Ayn Rand and Buckminster Fuller as personal influences. Her takeaway from her years as the governor's wife: "Doing politics for the right reasons has been largely lost."

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Change Will Happen. Can we Manage It? - Bud Lindstrand from Professionally Speaking, Inc. on Vimeo.

Bud Lindstrand

When Lindstrand started at Moda Health (then ODS), "it was a small company with 23 employees and $4 million in revenues," points out his alma mater, the University of Northwestern–St. Paul. "When he retired, Moda Health had over 400 employees and revenues in excess of $400 million." The former CEO has served on the boards of OHSU, the Oregon Symphony and other organizations, and he's been involved with Luis Palau's Beaverton-based ministry.

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Hillman Lueddemann Jr.

"Lueddie" worked at Portland General Electric for 25 years, retiring in 1989 as vice president. He served on the boards of the Portland Rose Festival, the Portland Zoo and the Japanese Garden, among other organizations. In 2001, he received Lewis & Clark College's Aubrey Watzek Award, and seven years later he was honored with the Thomas Lamb Elliot Award for Service to Philanthropy. Lueddemann died last year at 92. His father, also named Hillman Lueddemann, headed the Oregon Dept. of Commerce under Gov. Mark Hatfield.

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Father Michael Maslowsky

A lawyer before becoming a priest, Maslowsky took over Portland’s St. Anthony Parish in the 1990s, and he transformed it by developing a low-income housing community centered around the church. He felt called to help the aged and the poor, and St. Anthony Village became his passion project. “We need each other,” he wrote of his mission in 2002, “and the structures of our society should foster our essential interaction.”

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Larry Ogg

Ogg has been a longtime banking executive in the Northwest. He was executive vice president at Seafirst Bank of Washington before becoming president of Bank of America of Oregon. He later was named president of The Commerce Bank of Oregon.

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Dr. Ethel Simon-McWilliams

The dedicated educator earned a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina and taught in public schools before landing at Portland’s Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, rising to executive director and CEO in 1995. “She has had a huge impact on the scope and reach of the lab since she has been chief executive officer,” board chairman Donald Robson said when she retired in 2001. Simon-McWilliams died in 2017.

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Del Smith

The founder of Evergreen International Aviation Inc. oversaw "an airline, a helicopter company and a web of other aviation and financial companies that fly just about everything -- from secret anti-terrorist troops to high explosives to drug-fighting units," The Oregonian wrote in 1988. Its operations might have even included secret missions for the CIA. "We don't know when we've ever worked for them," Smith teased, "but if we did, we're proud of it." Evergreen Aviation ceased operations in 2013 and filed for bankruptcy the following year. Smith, who launched McMinnville's popular Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, died in 2014 at age 84.

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Fred Stickel

The World War II combat veteran and longtime newspaper executive “turned The Oregonian from a sleepy, dysfunctional daily into one of America’s best regional newspapers,” reporter Bryan Denson wrote when Stickel died in 2015 at 93. Stickel began his newspaper career as an ad salesman in New Jersey. He became The Oregonian’s publisher in 1975. “Most important for the employees of The Oregonian,” said Sandra Rowe, the newspaper’s editor from 1993 to 2010, “Fred was the glue that made us family.”

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Charles Swindells

The Lewis & Clark College graduate made his name as an investment manager in Portland. Then he served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa under President George W. Bush. Said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden in 2001: “Butch Swindells is a consensus builder, somebody who brings people together.”

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Dr. Nancy Wilgenbusch

The nurse and administrator took over as president of Marylhurst University in 1984. “Every roof leaked, the education hall was falling apart and the administration building’s carpet looked like a rollout from the old Soviet Union,” she recalled years later. “It was dreadful.” Wilgenbusch transformed the school, dramatically boosting its reputation, before retiring in 2008. She died last year at 69.

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All the rest

Put names to faces on Bill Papas’ mural.

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1. Gerry Frank

2. Mary Bishop

3. Jerry Hulsman

4. Phil Knight

5. Peggy Fowler

6. Bob Ridgley

7. Larry Ogg

8. Del Smith

9. Paul Romain

10. Peter Stott

23. Owen Blank

24. Serge D’Rovencourt

25. Shirley Berselli

26. Carol McCall

27. Hillman Lueddemann

28. Jim Rudd

29. Dick Reiten

30. Arlene Schnitzer

31. Gwyneth Booth

32. Bud Lindstrand

33. Dr. Nancy Wilgenbusch

34. Dr. Joseph Ha

35. Ted Winnowski

36. Jack Faust

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11. Vera Katz

12. James DePreist

13. Antoinette Hatfield

14. Mark Hatfield

15. Charles “Butch” Swindells

16. Robert Pamplin

17. Ethel Simon-McWilliams

18. Barron Hilton

37. Stan Geffen

38. Sho Dozono

39. Fred Stickel

40. John Eskildsen

41. Neil Goldschmidt

42. Ben Whiteley

43. Roy Jay

44. Gertrude Boyle

45. Brad Hutton

46. Father Mike Maslowsky

47. Hilmar Rosenast

48. Dieter Huckestein

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19. Sharon Kitzhaber

20. John Kitzhaber

21. Diane McCall

22. Dick Woolworth

49. Stephen F. Bollenbach

50. Melvin “Pete” Mark Jr.

51. Ron Timpe

52. Ruth Keller

53. Ron Ragen

54. Dr. Peter Kohler

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