The founding family’s surname of Columbia Sportswear was Lamfrom.
Paul Lamfrom established the company’s predecessor after his family fled Nazi Germany for Portland, Oregon, in 1937. In 1938, he borrowed money from a relative to buy the Rosenfeld Hat Company, renaming it the Columbia Hat Company after the nearby Columbia River. The family’s background in clothing manufacturing helped shape the business’s early direction.
The company did not begin as a major outdoor-apparel label. It started with hats and later expanded into clothing and equipment for outdoor activities. Paul’s daughter Gertrude Lamfrom—later known as Gert Boyle—became one of its defining leaders after her husband Neal Boyle died in 1970. She and her son Timothy helped rescue and expand the struggling business.
A common mix-up is answering “Boyle,” because Gert Boyle and her son Tim became the company’s best-known public faces. Boyle was Gert’s married surname; Lamfrom was the founding family’s original surname.