Ron Edinger: A Californian who's helped shape Cd'A

COEUR d’ALENE — It took a while for a young Ron Edinger to overcome the California connotation.

For starters, he and his two brothers, after arriving from Los Angeles in 1955, cruised around Coeur d’Alene in an eye-catching, baby-blue ’50 Mercury with pipes... and conspicuous California license plates.

“The police kind of picked our car out because it was a lot different,” he said. “We got stopped for no reason at all. I guess we kept those California plates on for a little too long.”

About the same time, Edinger began dating his future wife, Nancy, when former high school teacher and eventual Mayor Ray Stone advised her, ‘You shouldn’t go out with that guy because he’s from California.’”

Nancy, a Coeur d’Alene native, basically told Stone to take a hike.

The Edingers have been married almost 60 years.

Back then, Coeur d’Alene was a tradition-bound, introspective timber town, resistant to any kind of change and less-than-receptive of newcomers — especially those from La La Land. But Edinger shortly shook off the Golden State stigma in a big way. He threw himself into the community and became as much a North Idahoan as anyone.

Edinger, now 80, holds the record for serving the city in elective office, on the city council and as mayor. When his current term on the council expires in two years his tenure will amount to 49 years. In the process he has been Coeur d’Alene’s most popular candidate in terms of garnering votes.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have the people of Coeur d’Alene support me,” he said. “I think I’m straightforward and honest with them. I just feel that I’ve been the spokesman for the citizens of Coeur d’Alene.”

Edinger and his twin brother, Dick, were seniors in high school in Los Angeles when their father, Lawrence, announced they were moving to Coeur d’Alene. L.A. was getting too congested and too crazy for his father, who had a job waiting for him in Coeur d’Alene with the city.

“We graduated on a Friday and on Monday we left,” he said. “We drove in on Northwest Boulevard. All I saw was Memorial Field and the city park. It was raining, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what have I gotten into?’

“You could drive down Appleway and look to the north and see open fields and nothing but trees. It’s a little different now. Leaving L.A. and coming to Coeur d’Alene was quite a change. But I’ve been here ever since. Sixty-two years.

“Coeur d’Alene just grew on us,” he said.

While his younger brother, Jim, finished high school in Coeur d’Alene, Edinger worked a number of jobs including baling and pitching hay on ranches as well as time spent at the former Coeur d’Alene Creamery and a car dealership.

In the meantime, he met Nancy, who was working at the Showboat Drive-in theater and was considered quite a catch.

“She was Miss Lakeside Days in 1955,” he said proudly.

They were married in 1957 and had four daughters, 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Ron and Nancy lost one daughter, and two of the other three daughters also lost a young child of their own. For years, he has contacted all three of his surviving daughters nearly every day to check in. That’s just who he is. Big-hearted.

Edinger worked for 26 years for the Idaho News Agency distributing magazines then for the Coeur d’Alene School District as a school bus driver and maintenance employee. He retired in 1999.

Kind of.

He had been a member of the Coeur d’Alene Jaycees and got involved in the initial effort to purchase Tubbs Hill from the Idaho Water Co. when he was recruited as a candidate for city council in 1968.

Edinger won and served until 1974 when he ran for mayor. He served two years as mayor, was defeated by Don Johnston, took two years off from public office, then ran again for the council in 1980. There would be no more interruptions. And definitely no disappointments, he said.

Edinger has served under nine other mayors — Larry Gardner, John McHugh, Don Johnston, Jim Fromm, Ray Stone, Al Hassell, Steve Judy, Sandi Bloem and Steve Widmyer.

“Being on the council was challenging. But when you have other council members and a mayor who you can work with, you make decisions, and hopefully make the right decisions,” he said. “So far, I think I’ve made the right decisions because I’ve been elected all those times. But I probably made some mistakes.”

Despite Mayor Stone’s disparaging comments from years before, they became best of friends at City Hall, Edinger said.

Among his proudest accomplishments in elected office are his involvement in the city’s purchase of Tubbs Hill, development of Independence Point, and the Kroc Center and Riverstone. He also was instrumental in preserving Persons Field on 15th Street as a public open space when it was earmarked for development.

“You used to be able to go inside and park your car on the track to watch football games,” he said. “We did that many times.”

He is especially proud of his dedication to local athletics mostly as an umpire for 26 years, along with his two brothers for softball, Park and Recreation, American Legion baseball and on the high school, college and national levels. The three brothers were affectionately known as the “three blind mice” and all were inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame for Umpires.

He also managed a softball team with an agile third-baseman who grew up to be Coeur d’Alene’s long-time legendary rock ‘n roll radio host, Bob Hough.

Edinger does indeed have a big heart, but also a fragile one. He recently suffered two coronaries and underwent open-heart surgery as well as surgery for two aneurysms.

That’s enough reason to throw in the towel at the end of this term, he said. That, and his last, contentious campaign for council against an opponent who tried to create a partisan environment in the election.

“Some guy from California,” Edinger said with a subtle but unmistakable smirk.

“I made a promise to my wife and kids that after this term I’d sit back, take it easy and let someone else come in,” he said. “I’ll just sit in the audience” and spend time with family.

How will Ron Edinger be remembered once he’s out of the public spotlight?

“As a survivor for this long,” he said. “As a spokesman for the public and a survivor.”