Death Notice: Calvin Thomas McDermid, 74, The Dalles

File Photo from 2020 - Dixie (Webb) Schanno, Rachel Miller and Cal McDermid stand on the steps of the fabled Hi-Way House on East Second Street. Schanno’s grandmother, Belle (Head) Webb Beatie took ownership of the restaurant and turned it into a social hotspot. Miller, at the time was managing the restaurant and nightspot that was undergoing a renovation during the COVID outbreak. McDermid at the time of the photo was the Fort Dalles Museum Director and he remembered learning to dance at the restaurant as a youth on Sunday nights, before heading back out to the ranch in Sherman County where he grew up.

Calvin Thomas McDermid, age 74, a resident of The Dalles, OR, passed away at Pacific Living Center in Hood River, OR, on July 25, 2025.

Spencer, Libby and Powell Funeral Home in care of arrangements.

Cal was an exceptional curator, a good organizer, and did a wonderful job as the Director of the Fort Dalles Museum.

Cal would visit the museum after he took leave of his position, said Crystal Ross, who assumed the role.

“He would come by once in a while and call for Midnight the cat, and she would recognize his voice and she would come right out to him.”

McDermid was also a huge help to CCCNews on local history projects such as the story of Belle Webb who bought the Hi-Way House on Historic Higway 30 on the East end of The Dalles in 1940.

McDermid also purchased the first ad I ever sold back in 2005 when he took on the Bakitchen at 216 Court St., in The Dalles. It was a one inch by one column ad in the newspaper for a free donut.

And it worked, too well. We had to pull it after just a week or two after he was overwhelmed with coupons.

Cal was such a gracious person. He will be missed.

-Tom Peterson