Connie McGee: Roots that embrace the community

COEUR d'ALENE - Connie McGee is a Coeur d'Alene girl through and through.

Her family tree spans far into North Idaho's history, touching on just about every aspect of early life in the area - education, transportation, Fort Sherman and more.

"I'm proud of my family history because we've had six generations in the Coeur d'Alene School District, and about four generations that graduated as (Coeur d'Alene High School) Vikings," she said. "We've been here since 1879. I did my research, I went back and looked up my great-grandma, Mabel Barnes, and she came out as a 10-year-old when her step-grandfather, William L. McLaughlin, was part of the construction of the fort."

Her grandfather, Claude Barnes, was a captain of the steamboat "Flyer." She was one of the many babies born in her grandparents' home at 933 Fifth St., where her grandmother managed a maternity home and helped bring many new lives into the world.

"You didn't go to the hospitals then," she said with a chuckle.

McGee is also an American girl. She recently stepped down as the regent of the Lt. George Farragut Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, but she still serves as the chapter librarian and is the state organizing secretary. Her family history has been traced to a Revolutionary War soldier.

"My one grandpa, we can trace his lineage back to the Revolutionary War and it was through John Fulkerson, who fought, and we were able to get his military records and prove that he was in the war," she said. "His relatives came out to Santa Rosa, Calif., and then they came up to (Fort Sherman) from there. It was through my mother's work that I was able to appreciate what she did and understand the history."

From a family of caregivers, educators and doers, McGee is right in line. She has been a teacher, a principal, an educational supervisor, a student leader for the People to People student travel program and so much more to so many people. Even though she is in her 70s, she continues to give back to her community, from students and veterans to museum visitors and complete strangers. And she's enjoying every moment of it, learning new things the entire way.

"I am an involved senior citizen who loves history and wants to give back to the Coeur d'Alene community and people because this is where I grew up," she said. "I do all those things because I was in 4-H as a youngster growing up in Coeur d'Alene. You learned all those things."

Why do you participate and get involved with the community the way you do?

"I think as a citizen in America, you are responsible to give back to your communities and to the people, especially. I think so because I had such a great upbringing as a child. It was instilled in me by the educators in Coeur d'Alene that our history is valuable, that we are unique in Coeur d'Alene, that our water systems brought out miners and loggers - I mean, we need to cherish our history. I know we're focusing right now on bringing in tourism, because it does bring in the money, but we need to showcase our history. I just feel in order to move forward, you have to know what happened before. That's just my thought. And I wasn't a history teacher. I was an elementary teacher, and then at the junior high level I did teach history and English, but it wasn't my main focus when I went to college."

What are you most passionate about when it comes to serving your community? What lights that fire in you that keeps you going?

"The people. The people, absolutely."

Can you give me an example of a significant moment for you in your work with people in the community that let you know you're on the right path?

"The Lt. George Farragut Chapter had a program last November where we hosted over 33 Vietnam vets that live in this area. It was a tearful time because the vets would stand up and share with us, some of them did, a little bit about themselves, and they're so humble. It's not a bragging situation. They were tearful, and they just appreciated what we did. We gave them certificates and we partnered with the Department of Defense to do this event and we just wish we could have invited more, and this year we're doing another event to honor the Vietnam vets. We have a lot of military in North Idaho, retired veterans. That was one moment where I realized that people are important, and we need to value what they've contributed to our country. I'm just very patriotic that way. Being a military wife for 20 years, it's instilled in you, it's just a part of you."

You're the president of the board of the Museum of North Idaho. What are your responsibilities?

"As president, I'm there to lead the quarterly meetings, and more meetings as we need them. I'm also there to guide the board members in collaborative decision making. We're working toward strategic processes in not just recent events, but toward long-term plans for the museum."

How did you get involved?

"I've actually been a member for a long time, and once again, it's through my mother, because she volunteered there and she'd share things. She lived till 93 years of age so I had a lot of times I would sit with her and she would share information. It was so valuable to me because as a young person, you think you don't have time to take it all in, and you don't value it until you start getting older and you have your own children, then you start thinking, 'Oh man, I need to know this stuff.'"

What does it mean to you to be involved with the museum?

"It means a great deal to my family too, because they've been here so long that I need to give back so that the history is solid in there for the next generations, like when my grandson who is in fourth grade wants to know things and I'm not around, it's archived, so our museum serves the community in many ways, and I don't know if people know that. They think it's just a building where you go look at old artifacts.

It's not just that. We archive so many documents and pictures. We have people come in that have moved away that want to know, 'Do you have a picture of so-and-so and so-and-so, or any information on so-and-so?' Go on the computers and there it is, and they are so excited to see the linkage with our past.

We also publish books of the local history, and I think that's really important to promote our authors who have done a lot of research on the area.

We also educate children, so the fourth graders come down and they tour through the museum, but Robert Singletary and Dave Eubanks have gone into the classrooms and been well-received by the middle school students, so that's been a great outreach for us.

We have the (Little Red) Chapel, which is big to me because that's where my great-grandma went to school. It's before we had the public school system here in Coeur d'Alene. She had to go to the chapel on the Fort Grounds for her schooling, and then her stepfather, William McLaughlin, decided he was going to be on the committee that looked into public schools; they needed public schools here. I have a responsibility (laughs). It's always a learning adventure, and that's what I find at the museum, too. I learn a lot. I'd pick up a book when I was waiting for people to come in and it'd be, 'Oh, I didn't know that.' I'm a lifelong learner."

What aspect of North Idaho's history intrigues you most, or do you most enjoy?

"I like how Idaho was settled in its communities and how it's changed, and I like researching the waterways of Idaho and how they affected the development, and how people got here, and why did they come here? What was it that drew them and what did people take away from here?

I like to follow people who were successful and brought up in our school systems because we're a small state with small schools; that foundation they received and what they did with it in their adult life and how they carried it through. I like to look at who was successful, who wasn't successful, and just who influenced our development and our state. I love our state."

You are also a member of the Kootenai Electric Trust Board - how did you get involved?

"I taught at Athol Elementary and I was the principal there before I retired out of Lakeland School District, so I was familiar with people who have served as board members. I have always liked electrical companies that members owned, the cooperatives, and I have a great deal of respect for Kootenai Electric because they have, over the years, shown that they run a great business, a solid business. I just was feeling a little like, 'I need to do something. I don't need to sit at home and knit every day, yet.' I will probably do that in a few more years, but I need to give back, and so that's why I was interested."

So, do you have much spare time at all?

"Not too much. I'm on the computer a lot. I'm finding that in the organizations that I am in, they have a lot of seniors citizens and they're not real familiar with creating documents and working on the computer.

As an educator, you had to keep up with that all along, up to when I retired - then I did small jobs in the education field afterward because I supervised teachers for the University of Idaho, the interns, for quite a while. I did accreditation of high schools for the state for quite a while. I didn't retire out of Lakeland in 2005 and just stop. I took on a couple small jobs where I could share my skills and then when I turned 70, I thought, 'I'm not doing that anymore, I just need to sit in and help in other ways.'"

What was your favorite part of being a teacher?

"The students. I always found it a challenge to understand their mind and how they learn, and then try to meet their learning needs and styles. I loved the one room. Everybody comes in out at Athol, the kids came off the bus, very few were in town, and they were so glad to come to school. And I was glad to see them. I love children."

What do you most enjoy about helping others? When you lay your head down at night, how do you feel?

"That I've made a little difference, that I've helped them understand things, that I've helped them learn to work with others ... I'm a person who likes to get things done. I'm a doer. I'm not a sitter, I'm a doer. I like to see a product at the end of my efforts, something that helped."

If you could say something to our readers, anything at all, what would it be?

"You only get one chance at life. You need to make it the most meaningful for yourself and others."

Date of birth: June 25, 1943

Born and raised: In Coeur d'Alene, at 933 Fifth St.

Family: Husband of 49 years, Butch; three children and nine grandchildren

Favorite book or movie: I like them all

Quality you admire most: Integrity

Favorite music: Once again, I like it all - even rap, even opera

Education: North Idaho College, BS in elementary education and master's in education from University of Idaho

Philosophy on life: Live your life to the fullest