Joe Krumm, who died in 2016, lends his name to Community Room at Sabin-Schellenberg center.

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North Clackamas School District officials on May 24 inaugurated the Joe Krumm Community Room at the Sabin-Schellenberg Professional Technical Center to memorialize the many contributions of the former NCSD executive director of community and government relations who died in 2016.

Sabin-Schellenberg, located just east of Milwaukie in unincorporated Clackamas County, is the state's largest facility for teaching students 18 trades ranging from firefighting and broadcasting to cosmetology, health care, construction and culinary arts. Its new Community Room was renovated to hold 250 people with the removal of a stage left over from a previous middle school, although the room now has a new temporary stage that can be stored out of the way.

Among the many projects funded by a construction bond passed by voters in November 2016, the Joe Krumm Community Room has improved acoustics/lighting, a state-of-the-art sound system and a movable wall to create two rooms if needed. Krumm was credited with the successful public relations strategy behind bond measures in 1998 and 2006 for building and improving schools across North Clackamas. Prior to his death in September 2016, he set the stage for the passage of the latest bond.

Suzie Peachin, Sabin-Schellenberg's assistant principal, told attendees of the room's inauguration that she was proud the school will permanently recognize Krumm's lasting impact on the community. Krumm would invite state legislators to tour the school's campus and then follow up with visits to lawmaker offices in Salem, especially when bills were being considered involving career and technical education.

"Don't forget about Sabin-Schellenberg; don't forget about North Clackamas," Krumm would consistently tell the legislators, according to Peachin.

Krumm was a trained facilitator for the Center for Educational Equity, where he coached hundreds of people in equity work. North Clackamas Superintendent Matt Utterback said Krumm was an equity leader, not only in his home school district, but also on the national scale, where Krumm served as president of the National School Public Relations Association.

"Joe was known for his empathy and his commitment to social justice," Utterback said. "Many of our community partners who are supporting our students and families today are the result of Joe's work."

Krumm, who performed as a drummer in his spare time and had coronary artery disease, died at the age of 61 after performing a set at the Ash Street Saloon in Portland. The Milwaukie resident was a former editor and co-publisher of the Clackamas Review from 1984 to 1990, when he was recruited by former NCSD Superintendent Ben Schellenberg. Prior to working as a journalist, Krumm was a city bus driver, a soccer coach/referee and a custodian.