Mini Bios

Glen Kirkpatrick's interest in Lewis and Clark began in 1994 as he researched Clark's Point of View on Tillamook Head. He has served on the board of the Oregon chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance for the past 10 years and is currently serving as the Chapter Vice President. During the Bicentennial he led the effort to have the Oregon Geographic Names Board designate Clark's Mountain in Clatsop County. He has written articles for We Proceeded On, and has researched Clark's ascent of the Willamette River and the Corps' exploration of the Sandy River. He is particularly interested in Clark's maps and the Expedition's travels in the Columbia River Gorge.

Trained as a geologist, and now retired from the Rail Division, Glen worked throughout North America exploring for minerals. Returning to his home state of Oregon, he obtained an MBA from the University of Portland and now retired from the Rail Division of the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Glen is an avid outdoor enthusiast, enjoying wilderness travel by foot, kayak, and on horseback. He has kayaked the trail from Bonneville Dam to Fort Clatsop. He lives with his wife, Paula Beck, in Molalla on a 10 acre farm with four horses, one dog & cat and too many chickens to count.

Holly’s interest in Idaho’s history was piqued when she began her teaching career teaching fourth grade. Although she grew up in southeastern Idaho and had gone through Idaho schools, Holly wasn’t addicted to history until she started teaching it. And the best way to learn anything is to teach it. Holly started her endless quest of reading and learning about her home state’s history so she could pass on the exciting stories to her students.

In 1998 Holly and her husband, Bob, attended their first LCTA annual meeting in Great Falls, Montana, which ignited their quest to “follow the trail”. They’ve since followed Lewis’s preparations for the journey from the “Eastern Legacy” beginning, driven much of the trail from Pittsburgh to Astoria visiting a lot of sites mentioned in the journals, and kayaked along the white cliffs of the Missouri River. “Although we certainly aren’t experts on the expedition,” Holly says, “We have experienced the enormity of our vast country and appreciate the task Jefferson gave Lewis. Presently our ‘exploring’ the trail continues in our 1950 Oldsmobile 88 with the Vintage Motor Car Club.”

Holly has been Treasurer of the Idaho Chapter since 2008 and is currently Secretary of the newly created Pacific Northwest Region of LCTA.

John grew up in Kennewick, WA, not far from where the Corps finally reached the Columbia River in October of 1805, so he was aware of Lewis and Clark from an early age. The bicentennial of the expedition inspired John to learn more about the epic journey, and this led him to read books about it, travel parts of the Lewis and Clark Trail, and ultimately to share the story as a living history interpreter. He is a member of the Pacific Northwest Living Historians, a group that stages history programs which re-create encampments of the Corps of Discovery.

John joined the Washington State Chapter in 2005. He became a member of the board of directors in 2008, and later served as Chapter President in 2015 and 2016. John served as an editor of "Worthy of Notice," the former newsletter of the WA State Chapter, from 2010 until it was discontinued in 2021. He is currently editor of "Course & Communication," the newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Region of the LCTHF.

John is a graduate of the University of Washington, and he resides near Seattle, WA.

Rennie is the Communications Director and a board member for the new Pacific Northwest Region of the Lewis and Clark trail Heritage Foundation. He has been an active member of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation since the annual meeting in Billings, MT in 1987. He is a founder of the “Charbonneau Society”—made up of the men who follow the women who follow the Corps of Discovery!

On a more serious note, he a founding member of the Washington State Chapter, and has served as the chapter president, vice-president and treasurer several times, as well as the co-chair of the annual meeting in Richland, WA in 2014. He’s often found working behind the scenes at annual meetings, helping with registration or the silent auction or running errands.

Rennie lives in Vancouver with his wife Barb. He has recently retired from AMVAC Environmental Products, but he remains a licensed pest management operator and consultant in the northwest. He is also the landlord and agricultural consultant for the Kubik family [4 generations] dry-land wheat farm in Ritzville, WA.

Rennie enjoys fishing and hunting; with his wife, he enjoys attending WSU football games, spending time with family and friends, and exploring the Pacific Northwest with their trailer, Mr. Magoo.

Laurie Brown’s interest in Lewis and Clark started with her first meeting at Weippe, ID, for a regional meeting in 2014. Since then, she has attended every annual meeting since 2014 and some regional meetings. A regional meeting that stands out to Laurie is when she attended the regional meeting in Rapid City, South Dakota. One of the highlights was seeing Mount Rushmore. She enjoys history, meeting new people and seeing friends along the trail.

Laurie’s great-grandparents on both sides of my family were pioneers and homesteaders in Eastern Washington where she still makes my home. She has a rich family farm heritage and although she no longer farms, she enjoyed the lifestyle immensely.

She went back to school online 13 years ago and finished her bachelors degree in Business Administration. Not only did she farm for 30 years, she owned a quilt shop for 5 years and had a home based business in addition to raising 2 daughters. She currently works at WSU with fond thoughts for retirement in 2 years. She processes payroll, HR, and is on the finance team for her department. Laurie is a musician and plays for church. She like to quilt, read and garden. Laurie has 2 granddaughters and enjoys spending time with family.

Robert Heacock is an Eastern Washington native and feels that it is necessary to have a sense of adventure to make life interesting. The stories of early explorers have always filled that bill, especially those of ‘wooden ships and iron men’. The ‘who’ and the ‘what’ are always interesting, but the fun is in the ‘where’. The Lewis and Clark Expedition is a great way to pursue that goal.

He is a long-time member of the chapters that comprise the new PNW Region, and is a past president of the Washington Chapter. Robert has always appreciated those who are students of the Expedition and have appreciated the story that still resonates so well with the American public.

Business travel during a 30 year career in Insurance claims and investigations has provided an opportunity to see much of the Trail in the West. Since 2017 he has been an historian on Columbia and Snake River cruise boats and has seen the desire of the public from across America to experience and see the rivers as the Expedition members did. In 2021 he was also able to cruise the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers from St Louis, Missouri to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which helped to enhance his knowledge of the Trail. He also is the author of Wind hard from the west, the Lewis and Clark Expedition on the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The photography in the book is courtesy of Kris Townsend.

Given that the LCTHF is a dynamic organization, he is pleased to help the transition process and to make a contribution to the future of the LCTHF.

Robert and his wife Melanie live in the Spokane, Washington area. He has taught most of his nine grandchildren the art of eating ice cream.

Ted lives in Portland, in the house he grew up in, within sight of William Clark’s ascent of the Willamette River and overlooking the grounds of the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition. He is the retired CFO of a small technology firm. As budget director of the Oregon Historical Society and later the founding executive director of Lewis & Clark Bicentennial in Oregon 1997-2002, he worked with partners across the state and along the national trail to establish the foundation for Oregon’s commemorative activities. He attended President Clinton’s promotion ceremony for William Clark at the White House, and has visited every state along the L&C Trail. At home, he led the effort to designate NW York St. as honoring Clark’s slave, the first black explorer to reach Portland.

He froze at Monticello at the first bicentennial “signature event” in January 2003, got sopping wet at Fort Stevens at the Oregon/Washington event in November 2005, and welcomed the Corps back to St. Louis at the final event in September 2006. He organized and led the chapter’s 4-year effort to inventory all L&C-related “assets” in Oregon, and created and updated the tourist-guide/map “Lewis & Clark on the Columbia River” in 2001 and 2013. The former editor of a scholarly journal of flag studies, he has written a guide to flag design, sponsored Internet surveys on state and city flags, and published many articles (including one in WPO on the tribal flags used in Oregon’s Lewis & Clark bicentennial events). He consulted to the 2009 campaign to update the Oregon state flag. He edited the Oregon Chapter's newsletter for 15 years (2007-2021).