Gregory Lee Hightower, 72, of Manzanita, Ore., died April 15, 2025, at his home. He was in hospice care, due to the spread of a rare cancer that first appeared in 2013. His wife of 48 years, Kathie, and his dear friend Daric Moore, were at his side when he passed.
Greg was born Nov. 6, 1952, in Oakland, Calif. to Jack and Naomi Hightower. The family moved with his father’s civil service work for the military. They lived in Japan when Greg was young, and in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where he graduated from high school.
Greg graduated from Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in 1974. He was a member of Delta Tau fraternity. He completed two master’s degrees.
Upon graduation Greg was commissioned as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Military Police and served 30 years. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2004.
A fan of the popular Lee Child book series about a fictional retired Army MP major named Reacher, Greg liked to say, “I AM Jack Reacher,” as he had in fact served as a commander with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command (CID), as a major. Greg delighted in pointing out all the inaccuracies in the Jack Reacher books and movies.
Greg’s Army career included Military Police assignments, CID, and Civil Military Operations in Germany. He was the S3 Operations Officer for an MP battalion during the conflict in Panama, and in the UN Protection Force during the conflict in Bosnia Herzegovina.
Greg served as the Professor of Military Science at Oregon State University. He later worked at ROTC headquarters at then Ft. Lewis, Wash., with additional assignments covering a wide area of the United States, Guam, Tinian and American Samoa, providing Junior ROTC oversight.
After retiring from the Army, a life highlight for Greg was attending the Oregon Culinary Institute for two-plus years at age 63, graduating from both the culinary and the baking programs. His family and friends benefited greatly from those skills.
Greg met his wife Kathie in Germany in 1977, where she was also assigned as an Army lieutenant. They moved a total of 19 times in their nearly three decades of military life. With amazing foresight (i.e. luck), they bought property in the Manzanita area in 1984 and moved there fulltime in 2006, involving themselves in many community activities.
Greg and Kathie traveled the world — all over Europe, Mexico, Indochina, India, China, Russia, and Peru. Even the Republic of Georgia and Lithuania. These were not bucket list trips for the couple to check off. The Hightowers would immerse themselves in the places they visited — talking to people, trying every bit of traditional food and drink, and spending active time in nature whenever possible.
Particularly memorable were numerous week-long kayaking trips off a base camp boat in remote British Columbia with family and friends, and a week of biking much of the country of Liechtenstein, crossing into Austria and Switzerland.
Greg was one of a kind, especially for an Army officer. He talked to everyone to get their life story and could make anyone laugh — even in way-too-tense war zone situations. He made everything into a fun adventure, from a meal to a house project to a trip. He was proud of the fact that he could get just about anybody dancing on his kitchen “dance floor.” As numerous people have said, “Greg always made me feel welcome, seen, and heard, and that is something for men in our generation.”
Greg is survived by his wife Kathie, sister Anita (Gene) Inzer, sister-in-law Nancy Hotter, brother-in-law Joe Hotter, nephews Justin Trudeau and Paul (Liz) Trudeau and their children, goddaughter Mary (Kenny Trowbridge) Beougher, and nieces-in-law, Jessica (Scott) Hotter, and Jocelyn Hotter.
In lieu of flowers, and to honor Greg’s great love of rescuing cats, especially his feral Mr. Finn, and his love of feeding all birds and stray animals, the family requests donations to Animal Haven by the Sea at animalhavenbythesea.com, or in honor of Greg’s love of nature, a donation to the North Coast Land Conservancy at www.nclctrust.org.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the Performing Arts Center of the North County Recreation District in Nehalem on Saturday, May 10, from 2 to 5 p.m.
For information or questions, contact Kathie Hightower at 503-739-1505 or kathiejhightower@gmail.com. She welcomes any stories people may have about Greg.
