Category: Meet Our Crew

Walt Oesterreich started working in the logging industry in the early 1990s. He began running equipment in early 2002. Work has taken Walt all over the world, including two years spent as a contractor in Bagram, Afghanistan. After landing back in Oregon, he came to Siegmund Excavation & Construction in late 2017 as a shovel operator. Walt says joining the Siegmund team was his best decision, and he really feels like family here.

Though his roots are solidly replanted with his job and family, Walt still loves to travel. On sunny days, you can catch him on his motorcycle.

“I’m always up for a good road trip at any time!” – Walt O.

Fred Getz was recruited to Siegmund Excavation & Construction in 2016 when the company decided to venture back into logging. Fred began working in the woods when he was 14 years old, and officially started his first logging job at 18. He began running shovel at the age of 27, and has been doing that ever since. Fred had been working in the woods for over 20 years when he got the call from Andrew Siegmund.

Growing up, Fred says he didn’t play sports or participate in school activities. Instead he just partied and raised hell. He also enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping with his family. These days, Fred can be found riding his motorcycle every chance he gets. He still loves hunting, fishing and shooting, or just relaxing with his family and friends.

2018 was an amazing year for Kyle Payne. It began with him starting a new job at Siegmund Excavation & Construction, and ended with the birth of his first child. Kyle worked for a drilling company for over 10 years, running rock drills and blasting. Kyle says working around many types of heavy equipment while there slowly sparked his interest in wanting to run other types of equipment. This is what lead him to Siegmund.

Kyle grew up playing football and baseball when he was young. Baseball was big in Kyle’s family. Both he and his younger brother played the sport throughout their school careers. The family spent many of their summers at baseball tournaments, cheering on both boys. They also enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping, especially at their beach property where they’d spend their days digging razor clams.

These days Kyle still enjoys hunting and fishing with his family. He and his wife often take their travel trailer into the woods to camp while they are hunting.

Dave Fery has the distinction of being with Siegmund Excavation & Construction the longest, having been here since February of 1999. Dave says that starting when the company was small gave him the advantage of learning to run every new piece of iron purchased. He feels very fortunate for all of the opportunities that the Siegmund family has given him over the past two decades.

Dave began working in the woods  right after graduating high school in 1996. He worked as a laborer, operating equipment every chance he got. In the winter, he would work in the shop. Dave figured out that to work year-round, he needed to really make himself valuable in the industry. So far, it’s worked!

Dave is a middle child, with three brothers and one sister. He was raised on a farm in Scio, where his mom and dad taught him the value of hard work and gave him the foundation for learning to problem solve and build things. Dave shared, “There were plenty of times growing up that I remember my dad being so angry because I would take things apart to see what made them tick, but didn’t yet have the knowledge to put them back together!”

Outside of his work at Siegmund, Dave is the owner of Snow Peak Cattle Company and he enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He looks forward to hunting trips with his brothers every year, whether it be shooting rats or hunting elk…even if it ends up just being a camping trip!

Rick Thayer has been an essential part of the Siegmund Excavation team for 11 years. Prior to coming to Siegmund, Rick worked for a logging company. During his 19 years there, Rick wore a lot of different hats. He started out as a chaser, then became a hook tender. After a few years, he began operating equipment, including shovel, CAT, skidder, feller buncher, and processor. He then became a side rod (supervisor) in the early 1990s.  While at his prior place of employment he worked alongside the Siegmund crew. Rick says, “The Siegmund crew was rocking a road for us. I thought their crew seemed nice, got along well, and kept their trucks really clean.” Rick was ready to get out of logging, so he decided that Siegmund would be a good fit for a new adventure.

Rick was raised in the Philomath and Belfountain area. He moved to California for a few years, then came back to Philomath in 1985. He went to work for a local construction company, and met his wife in 1986. The couple was married in 1990 and have two children. These days they enjoy riding quads, hunting, camping, and spending time with their granddaughter.

Rick says he’s very happy he made the decision to meet with the Siegmunds and join their team.

When Gibson Kuenzi joined the Siegmund Excavation team as a Project Manager/Estimator in October of 2016, he brought with him a wealth of knowledge, both in and out of the classroom. He spent 8+ years working for a local Heavy Civil/Highway constructor, starting as a laborer, then an operator, and eventually becoming a Project Manager/Estimator. Gibson has a Bachelors Degree in Construction Engineering Management with a Business Minor from Oregon State University.

Gibson grew up in Silverton, Oregon. He played basketball thru middle school and was involved with FFA at Silverton High School. These days, when Gibson isn’t at work, you’ll find him spending time with his  wife, and their son. He has a passion for the outdoors, and enjoys hunting, fishing and hiking. The three of them spend a lot of time with family and friends, and are also involved with their church family.

Brandon Fetter has been changing hard hats a lot lately at Siegmund. Brandon started working at Siegmund Landscape Supply as a delivery driver and laborer just over a year ago. Recently, he’s begun splitting his time between the landscape yard and Siegmund Excavation’s construction sites.

After high school, Brandon worked on a farm for a short time, before going to work for a landscaping company in Olympia, Washington. He moved back to Stayton and began working for a cleaning company, before coming to Siegmund for a new experience.

In high school, Brandon enjoyed manufacturing and woodshop. Outside of school he could be found camping, hiking, and enjoying the outdoors. Now he spends his free time with his family and friends.

Matt Pietrok has been working for Siegmund Excavation for 5 ½ years. Matt’s first job in the construction industry was doing telephone cable maintenance for seven years. He left there to do pipeline work for a local construction company. After several more years in construction and utilities, Matt chose to join the crew at Siegmund so that he could work in the woods.

Matt was raised on farms in Aumsville and Stayton, helping out with the cattle. He played football in Jr High and High School and was a member of the FFA. He also loved hunting and fishing with dad. After school, Matt joined the United States Marine Corp as a reserve, serving the country for four years. He was also a volunteer fire fighter for 19 years with the Stayton Fire District.

Today, Matt loves spending time hunting and fishing with his kids and doing mechanics and wood working in his shop.

Gordy Swan has been a crusher mechanic and fabricator for 30 years, working from Northern California to Alaska. One of the most challenging jobs he did was on St Paul Island on the Bering Sea. Gordy was also in the operating engineers’ union and operated a variety of heaving equipment, his favorite being scrapers. He worked for a sand and gravel company in Washington State for several years before deciding to start his own business repairing crusher equipment.

In 2008, love brought Gordy to Oregon, so he closed up shop, moved to Albany, Oregon, and married his wife (his high school sweetheart). While working in Eugene in 2014, Gordy was sent to Siegmund to repair a crusher for Allied Rock. Fate stepped in, and Andrew Siegmund offered Gordy a job, sealing the deal with a brand-new service truck with his likeness on the door (the Tasmanian Devil!). Gordy says he couldn’t be happier.

Two years ago, Gordy and his wife moved from Albany and bought a place near Aumsville on a couple of acres. They are loving living in the country and trying to keep up with their six children and ten grandchildren. Gordy also enjoys boating, crabbing, camping, and someday hopes to finish restoring his 1978 Bronco.

Eric Luscher operates the steep slope harvester (feller buncher) for Siegmund Excavation’s logging side. Eric began his career in logging in 1989, bumping knots on the landing for a logging company. He then went to work for another timber company where he ran multiple pieces of equipment, including log loader, skidder, dozer, delimber, processor, and buncher. After 18 years, Eric moved to Colorado in 2009 to run buncher. In 2015, Siegmund Excavation made the foray back into logging. Andrew Siegmund heard about Eric through a mutual contact and invited him to make the trip from Colorado to meet. Eric made the move to Oregon and began working for Siegmund in June of 2015.

Eric grew up in the small town of Libby, Montana. His dad is a retired eye doctor and his mom stayed home to take care of Eric, his older brother, and younger sister. The family enjoyed hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, participating in 4H, and spending time at a cabin on the lake.

Nowadays Eric is busy with a big family of his own. He and his wife have a blended family, which includes six children, eight grandchildren, and one grandchild on the way. They enjoy anything that has to do with spending time with the kids, outdoors, snow, and traveling.