PSU loses one of its own

Stanley Summerall, 55, died of a massive heart attack on campus last month. Summerall was employed by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which leases space in Science Building 2.

“He was someone we really, really appreciated,” said Mary Abrams, the DEQ Lab Division administrator.

Summerall was an Air Quality Sampling technician, Abrams said, and a long-time DEQ employee. He worked for DEQ for the last 17 years.

Summerall’s responsibilities included such job responsibilities as traveling to monitoring sites and collecting data all over the state.

Abrams said Summerall was the kind of person who helped everyone out. She said he was a key member of the DEQ Lab Division.

“He was the go-to person,” Abrams said.

The program does monitoring and analysis statewide. Employees from the DEQ located on campus take water and air samples all over the state and analyze those samples.

“Stanley was a great example of how that is valued,” Abrams said.

Summerall died on campus outside of Science Building 2, and was found dead in a shed that he was working on for the Columbia River Gorge. The shed will be used to check the air for air quality standards in the Gorge.

“He was a wonderful guy,” Abrams said. “We miss him a whole lot.”