Jan. 31, 1949 — Oct. 14, 2025
On Oct. 14, 2025, Marc J. Valens, 76, longtime resident of Moondance Ranch in Beatty, Oregon, as well as Ashland, Oregon, passed away peacefully after an extensive journey battling prostate cancer.
Raised in Mill Valley, California, Marc’s love of Southern Oregon began as a 9-year-old boy attending ranch camp at the Rafter M D Ranch in Chiloquin. There he was mentored by Bob Mozio and learned to rope and ride and brand and to love this way of life.
When Marc turned 21, he found his way back to Klamath and made Southern Oregon his home. He loved his neighbors, his cattle, the beauty of the land along with the resident wildlife including the great gray owls and sandhill cranes.
Every other year, Marc held a Pie Fest where the admission to the event was a homemade pie or the ingredients to bake one in the summer kitchen wood cook stove.
Marc was educated at Amherst College, UC Berkeley and University of Oregon Law School. Marc showed up in a big way with a group of investors helping form an LLC and purchasing a permanent home for the nonprofit Headwaters.
He worked tirelessly over four decades to prevent new dams from being built on the Klamath River and advocated for the removal of the four existing dams. He lived long enough to see it happen and celebrated the event on Shasta land in 2024.
Marc was predeceased by his parents, Red and Win Valens; brother, Dan Valens; and is survived by his beloved wife, Anne Golden; sister Jo Valens; brother Tom Valens; nephews Jonah Valens and Jesse Valens; niece Keja Valens; and great nephew Lucca.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to the nonprofit AnCan where, as a cancer patient, Marc found mentorship, support, advocacy and comfort.
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