By Jim Teece

I have been thinking about doing a story on Brothers for a while. 

Story ideas percolate in the back of my head and without thinking about them, I think about them, if that makes sense and somehow my brain puts the details into the tiny random slots in my gray matter, so I can pull them forward later when I am so inspired to complete the story. 

Sometimes they come together quickly and other times they take years. 

The brother story was one that has taken a long time. 

The inspiration for the story comes from all over. 

I thought about the brothers, Patrick and John Collison, originally from Limerick, Ireland who created Stripe, the largest credit card processing company now worth billions, which we use for most of our clients, and the good they are doing in their home country with the money they make is inspiring. 

I thought about the brothers Dane and Travis Boersma who started Dutch Bros in the neighboring city of Grants Pass, what they built together until Dane passed away, and how it inspired his brother Travis, to this day, to give back to find a cure and all the good their company does in the community they started it in. 

I thought about the brothers who grew up in Ashland and even though they didn’t start a company together or work together, Sid and Alan DeBoer have each run successful car sales companies, one regional and one national, and both have made and continue to make huge impacts in southern Oregon. 

And I even thought about my own brother. 

The other day, a snowstorm ripped through Southern Oregon, and I had to hike up to a tower and start the generator to keep the internet working for the south end of the valley. I asked my brother Dennis to go with me. He relocated to Ashland back in August of 2024, from sunny southern California and came to work for us at Ashland Home Net with hopes that he would learn the trade and take over the business so Dena could step back a bit from the day-to-day. 

As we slogged up to the tower in insane snow, focused on the challenge at hand, I imagined he must have asked himself many times, what he got himself into. 

I drove the side-by-side, but it got stuck only 10 feet from where we started up the trail. So we started hiking the mile to the tower. I hurt myself the day before (slipped on ice and pulled groin muscles) and struggled to walk through the snow that was up to our knees. 

He patiently walked behind me and let me lead the way. About ½ way there he told me to let him pass and he would head up and start the generator, without me. 

I stopped and looked at him and thought about bears eating him and how slow I was going and reluctantly let him pass (I’m the older brother so that was a big moment for me) and he went on alone as I stayed behind to catch my breath. He went around a corner and disappeared and I thought about my story idea again. 

Here we were, two brothers, living in a small town, working together and hiking up to start a generator so that people could watch Netflix. I was very happy to have him here and thankful that he came with me.

Brothers that work together is pretty neat and new to me. I have worked with my wife Dena and in the community with my sister Michele, for the last 30 years plus but never before with my brother.

After a quick rest, I started up the trail after him, stepping into each of his deep footprints. One by one, I stepped, grimacing in pain, but determined to make it to the top. (My plan was that I was going to wrestle the bear while he started the generator.)

It wasn’t lost on me how I was now following in my brother’s literal footsteps. 

To help me not focus on my pain, I focused on my story idea.

I went through the list of brothers I knew and realized I knew another pair. 

Bill and Dan Thorndike. 

They are admired and respected for all the good they do in the valley. 

Inspired to now complete my story, I made a mental note to survive the snowmageddon and reach out to them soon to get them to tell their story so I could share it with you. But the snow would not melt and I spent my 3 days digging out at home. 

A few days later we all heard the sad news about Bill Thorndike passing away suddenly. 

I was mad at myself for waiting to tell the story. I love writing about people who inspire me and letting them read it so that they can see how much they mean to so many people. 

We seem to always wait to share how awesome someone is until they pass. I don’t like that. I think we should share the stories while they are still here. 

But I waited too long and now Bill is gone. 

Bill was born in Medford and after graduating from college with a MBA took over the daily management of the family business, Medford Fabrication. His younger brother Dan became a lawyer. Between the two of them, they had the skills and passion to run a very successful business together. 

But more than that, they both figured out how to make a huge impact on Southern Oregon. 

I met Bill maybe 30 years ago. I think it was at an Asante meeting. He served on so many boards it’s hard to keep track. I was looking for a board to serve on and it seemed to me that he served on them all, so he was a good guy to learn from. Over his life he served on over 60 boards from Asante (our community hospital system) to Southern Oregon University (foundation and Trustees) and so, so many other boards that made direct and deep impacts on the community. 

He was a man with a large heart and huge presence. He was quiet, yet everyone knew him and knew his impact. He won every award you could get for being a community leader and he served the most important non-profits in the valley. He also served on the Federal Reserve Board. 

When news of his passing hit there was a tsunami of shock and love for him and his family.  I’m talking about United States Senator for Oregon Ron Wyden, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, Southern Oregon University’s President Rick Bailey, Executive Director of United Way of Jackson County, Dee-Anne Everson, and Vice President/General Manager at KOBI-TV / KOTI-TV, Bob Wise to name just a few. 

I reached out to his brother Dan the day we all heard the news and offered my condolences and Dan wrote back “We’ll all just keep on doing the things that were important to Bill”. 

He lead with his heart and his brain. 

He showed me that you can run a business and give back an insane amount of energy and leadership at the same time, everyday. 

I remember one time we were in Portland for a Business Oregon Conference put on by the state with the Governor and both Senators(from different parties at the time).

Bill, Jim Fong, Executive Director of Rogue Workforce Partnership, Ron Fox, SOREDI director and I had lunch together. He asked me what Southern Oregon needed for its future. 

My talks at the time were called “Future Proofing Oregon” and I think he saw me give a couple of them to different groups, so I made a mental note to be more clear about what we needed at my next talk.  

He sat there smiling like he always was, waiting for my answer.  Actually, all three of them were smiling and waiting for me to answer the question, “What do we need in Southern Oregon to make it a better place to live and work.”

I chewed, using it as a way to think without answering right away and I then I swallowed, took a big gulp of my water, looked him right in the eye, and said, “We need more business leaders who also are community leaders , that are not afraid to serve as much as they can, wherever they can and do so much for so many. They serve and they inspire others to serve.” 

And I took another gulp and said, “Basically, We need more Bill Thorndikes”…

That was the day I realized I needed to do more. 

Thank you Brother Bill for your inspiring, tireless efforts and consistent involvement in everything that made life in Southern Oregon better for all. 

We will miss you.

Rest in peace my friend, knowing that we will all continue to follow in your giant and deep footsteps and continue doing the things that were important to you… To Serve, Lead, and Inspire the next generation to do the same. 

Read the cover story “Bill Thorndike’s Legacy” on the Southern Oregon Business Journal