House members commemorate long‑time Gladstone educator and mark Black History Month and Rosa Parks Day

Members of the Oregon House of Representatives used floor time on Feb. 6 to honor a longtime Gladstone educator and to mark Black History Month and Rosa Parks Day.

Representative Hartman asked colleagues to join in remembering John Wheaton, who he said “dedicated his entire life to our communities with such compassion.” Hartman described Wheaton as a teacher and principal in Gladstone, saying he began his career as a fifth‑grade teacher in 1956 and served as principal from 1972 to 1992. Hartman said Wheaton continued to volunteer at schools after retirement and that the Gladstone School Board later renamed an elementary school in his honor. Hartman also said Wheaton and his spouse donated a six‑acre parcel to Clackamas County that has been used as a living classroom and is being developed as an educational and recreational resource.

Later in the session, the House observed Rosa Parks Day; an on‑floor speaker recalled Parks’s refusal to give up her bus seat and invoked her words that “we must never be fearful about what we are doing when it is right.”

Representative Nelson marked Black History Month with extended floor remarks tying historical exclusion and present disparities in Oregon to policy priorities. Nelson urged the chamber to address disparities through investments in housing, health equity, public education and reforms to reduce systemic inequities. “The true measure of our commitment to true progress is not in what we say, it is in what we do and how we do it,” Nelson said.

These commemorations and remarks were delivered as floor courtesies and statements; the transcript does not record any formal legislative actions tied directly to the tributes or remarks.