CORVALLIS – Three area residents were honored at a recent ceremony held at the Corvallis campus of Oregon State University.

Virginia Tubbs of Adams, Pendleton Mayor Bob Ramig and Virgil Rupp of Pendleton, are among the 41 men and women who were honored as Diamond Pioneers Tuesday by the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences.

Their addition will bring to 746 people who have been listed on the college’s Diamond Pioneer Agricultural Achievement Registry since it started 20 years ago. The registry began when the college observed its 75th anniversary to honor those 75 and older for their contributions to agriculture, their communities and OSU.

Agricultural Sciences Dean Thayne Dutson hosted a luncheon for the 2003 Diamond Pioneers in the CH2M Hill Alumni Center in Corvallis. Guest speaker was John V. Byrne, OSU president emeritus and a 2003 Diamond Pioneer.

Tubbs, nominated by staff at the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, was cited for her volunteer work in the community on behalf of numerous organizations from youth-serving agencies to the justice system. She was Pendleton’s first citizen in 1974 and received the Women Helping Women award from Pendleton Soroptimists in 1986.

As a longtime supporter of music programs, Tubbs has served on the boards of the Oregon East Symphony and OES Guild. She has served on the board of the Umatilla County Historical Society for many years and received the society’s Outstanding Service Award in 1991.

Ramig was elected Pendleton mayor in 1993 after retiring from his agricultural research career in 1991. Ramig came to Oregon and the Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center in 1960 as soil scientist with the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. He became a recognized leader in describing effects of tillage and residue handling systems on water conservation and crop nutrient requirements.

Ramig was project and location leader for soil and water research from 1961 to 1981. In 1971, he oversaw the design and construction of research and office facilities at the Pendleton Experiment Station. The building is important to both OSU and USDA scientists and staff. He was nominated for the registry by staff from the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center.

Rupp started his journalism career at the Bend Bulletin where he worked from 1955 to 1959 where he also began his What’ s Up outdoor column. He left Oregon briefly only to return in 1963 as a writer and photographer for the East Oregonian. He was farm editor when he left the newspaper in 1984.

Since 1984, Rupp has been feature editor of Agri-Times Northwest. He has received several awards for his work. In 1994, he received the Voice of Oregon Wheat Industry award from the Portland Chamber of Commerce and was named Agriculturist of the Year by the Oregon Agri-Business Council in 1998. He has written two books about Pendleton Grain Growers as well as a history of the Pendleton Round-Up.

The OSU Umatilla County Extension staff and OSU Department of Animal Sciences nominated Rupp for the award.

Some of the others honored were Fred Warner, Baker City; Ralph Hart, Island City; Arlene Oliver, John Day; Andrew Greeley, Jordan Valley; John Shipley and Donald Thompson, Moro; Keith Gressley, Isao Kameshige and William Panike, Ontario; and John Bishop, Vale.