Crosby estate donated

But one thing is certain—Crosby was generous.

When he passed away in January, Crosby left everything—his home, checking accounts, truck and even the $446 of cash in his wallet—to the Dufur School District.

The entire estate is valued at $689,218.14. He had nearly $382,000 in checking, CDs, an IRA, and a brokerage account.

Crosby married Snively’s mom Pat in 1988. The couple moved to Dufur from Portland in 1998. Pat died in 2009.

“Her and Bob decided to do this and they made me aware 10-12 years ago,” Snively said of the donation. “I didn’t care. It’s not my deal anyway.”

The Crosby’s home, a four-bedroom, two-bath, 2,490-square foot single-family residence built in 1980 on 0.35 acres, is located at 275 Northwest Sixth St. It is valued at $250,000 and will be auctioned off theater style in the Dufur School gymnasium at noon on Sunday.

Anyone interested in buying the home must pre-register 48 hours before the auction at auctionsalesco.com.

A 2007, 26-foot Keystone Copper Canyon Trailer, valued at $10,000, and $3,000 worth of firearms will be up for auction after the home.

Beginning at 10 a.m., the Crosby’s personal household items, which includes more than 400 lots, valued at $10,000, will be sold.

All of the items, including the house, can be previewed Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday from 8 to 10 a.m.

A catalog can be found online at auctionsalesco.com and pre-bidding is already underway.

Snively has sold Crosby’s truck, a 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 Club Cab 4x4 Pickup, to C.H. Urness in The Dalles for $32,600. That money is also going to the school.

Dufur Superintendent Jack Henderson said he met Bob about eight years ago. Crosby showed up at school one day with some computers to donate. He then returned to set up the Bob Crosby Science Scholarship Fund for Dufur High School students who wanted to pursue science degrees in college. The scholarship was going to initially begin after Crosby passed away but he decided it couldn’t wait.

Over the last five years, Dufur has granted three scholarships and the funds from the Crosby estate will also go to students who want to study science in college.

Dufur resident Duane Powell met Crosby in 1995.

“He loved the outdoors, recreational shooting and just getting away from the big city for rest and relaxation,” Powell aid. “We found we had many common interests and he was intrigued by our off the grid lifestyle. He assisted me a great deal with my off the grid projects, building several charging systems and sorting through the challenges of operating an independent power system.”

Powell discovered Crosby had graduated from Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland and went on to have a career with Roy Burnett Motors as a mechanic, specializing in tune-ups and air conditioning repair.

Crosby then worked for the state, testing soils along the Columbia Gorge and researching the Missoula floods. He spent many hours of in depth study on numerous topics, particularly the sciences. Crosby also had his pilot’s license and owned a sailboat.

Henderson pointed out this is the third estate the Dufur School District has inherited in the last three years, “which says a pretty cool statement about the community of Dufur and how they feel about their school.”

Barbara Paist taught for more than 40 years, many in Dufur, and stayed active in the community after her retirement. She donated her estate to benefit students going to trade schools.

Just over a year ago, Barbara Garner left her estate to provide art and music at Dufur School. The plan is to grow the Garner fund to a point that it would endow a teaching position.

Adding the Crosby estate, the Dufur School District will have $2.2 million invested in scholarship funds.

“That’s pretty amazing and will serve Dufur students forever, really,” Henderson said.