November 20, 1947 – May 1, 2025
On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, Duane Ross Sidebottom passed away while out doing what he loved along Kidder Creek. He died on a bright, sunny, spring afternoon at the age of 77. Duane was born November 20, 1947, in Red Bluff to Ross Sidebottom and Wilma Hacker. His father came to California from Missouri during the Great Depression and his mother moved to the state following her childhood in South Dakota and Nebraska. Duane’s father fought for the U.S. Army in World War II before returning to Redding to raise the family.
Duane graduated from Enterprise High School in Redding and went to work as a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, McCloud Ranger District, in 1965. He fought fire during the summer while working his way through Shasta College and Chico State University, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art. During these years, Duane became a highly talented skier and spent several winters living at major ski destinations.
Duane married his first wife, Clara, during his college years. They enjoyed many adventures before they parted ways. He was married to Pamela McGaugh of Mount Shasta, through most of the 1980’s. They had their first child, Lathan Sidebottom, in 1983, and purchased a home in Fort Jones, where Duane lived to present day. In 1997, he married Chela Morgan, and Forest Sidebottom was born that same year. Duane connected with Sheri Campbell in 2009, with whom he lived out the remainder of his years, exploring everything Northern California and Southern Oregon has to offer.
Duane enjoyed a long and storied career in the U.S. Forest between 1965 and 2001. He worked in nearly every facet of wildland fire management. His early career was spent on the McCloud and Mount Shasta Ranger Districts. At the end of the 1970’s Duane took a position as the helitack foreman in Scott Valley, where he worked until the late 1980’s, helping create the U.S. Forest Service helicopter rappel program. Duane moved to fuels management on the Klamath National Forest, Scott River Ranger District, where he worked tirelessly to improve forest health in Siskiyou County, with some of the most ambitious prescribed fire projects ever undertaken. Following his retirement from the Forest Service, Duane continued as an incident management team member through a municipal fire department, coordinating firefighting aircraft on some of the largest incidents in the western states. His public service in fire management continued through 2024, approximately 59 years in total.
Duane lived one of the fullest, most exciting, and interesting lives one could imagine. His list of positions included professional fine art painter, semi-professional skier, racehorse jockey, college professor, competitive water skier, firefighter, helicopter rappeler, and many others. He took extended overland travel camping trips to beaches in Baja, Mexico, floated Pacific Northwest Rivers by kayak and drift boat, and relentlessly chased steelhead and salmon wherever they’re found. He was one of the most dedicated fishermen one could imagine, frequenting the Salmon, Scott, Klamath, Smith and Chetco rivers throughout the winter, with annual trips to Idaho’s South Fork of the Snake River in recent years. He spent nearly every day of the week fishing, cutting firewood, picking mushrooms, slowly improving his golf game, creating new works of art, and helping anyone in-need he encountered. He was a man of drastic contradiction, simultaneously wild and spontaneous, while highly accomplished and disciplined in certain areas of life.
Duane was a loving father and grandfather, helper of those in need, and friend to many. He is survived by his fiancé, Sheri Campbell, son Lathan Sidebottom and his wife Deanna, son Forest Sidebottom and his fiancé Kayla Forester, grandchildren Amelia, Avery (Lathan and Deanna) and Hunter Sidebottom (Forest), along with a new baby on the way (Forest and Kayla), and an extensive list of friends over 77 years.
A casual, fun, celebration of life will be held at the Etna City Park at 12:00 PM on Saturday, May 24, 2025, with reception to follow. All are invited to attend.
sourced- Girdner Funeral Chapel
