The No. 1 pioneer

Margaret Groves was a pioneer bride and mother who didn’t fuss about Mother’s Day.

As she approached her 85th birthday in 1956, she was philosophical about the event.

“We never expected recognition,” she told the Coeur d’Alene Press. “We just did our best for our families and prayed that it was good enough.”

At the time, Margaret was living comfortably on her own at 702 Fourth St. Her husband, George, had died eight years before. On Dec. 1, 1939, their Golden Wedding anniversary, the Groveses had been hailed as Coeur d’Alene’s “leading pioneer couple.”

In a Press photograph, published May 12, 1956, Margaret is shown admiring her marriage certificate, encased in an elaborate frame on her dining room wall.

“They don’t make certificates like this anymore,” Margaret told The Press. “If the house ever caught on fire, this is the first thing I’ll try and save.”

Born in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 15, 1871, Margaret was 7 when her father, Sgt. John Hickey, of the second infantry, was transferred to the new Fort Coeur d’Alene (later renamed Fort Sherman). At first, the family lived in tents at what is now City Park.

A saloon was the only building beyond the boundary of the fort grounds.

In 1889, Margaret married George Groves, a crew hand on Lake Coeur d’Alene boats who was seven years older and a native of Columbus, Ohio.

Since there was no Catholic church in town for the 2 o’clock Sunday ceremony, the couple improvised. George made two round trips by horse and buggy to Spokane to fetch and return Jesuit priest Raymond Smith from Gonzaga University. The new groom made the second trip during the wedding reception at the Avondale Lake homestead of Margaret’s parents.

Margaret became the mother of five daughters, four of whom were still living in 1956 when The Press interviewed her: Margaret McDaniels, Gertrude Dawson, Ellen Peck and Catherine Geinzer. A fifth daughter, Mrs. Harry Peters, had died in Lewiston.

Margaret also had 15 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

At the time, she weighed “a little more than a pound for every year of her life,” according to the Press. She handled her own house and yard work. And she valued her independence.

“This is my home, no one should worry about me being alone,” she told The Press.

On Oct. 13, 1965, Margaret, still regarded as the town’s “No. 1 pioneer,” died at age 93.

Ace Gets His ‘C’

Amidee “Ace” Walden received his Coeur d’Alene High athletic letter on his 94th birthday on May 17, 2001, more than 75 years after he earned it.

Dubbed by many as “the patriarch of the Lake City,” Ace was long retired from his 42-year career as a local banker when he got the prized blue “C.”

At the presentation, CHS Athletic Director Larry Schwenke told Ace, “I’m here to correct one of the greatest injustices ever.”

Ace, a self-deprecating community booster, denied any special prowess on the football field. “I was clumsy and slow and had several bad features,” he told The Press. “But I did get to play — after Coeur d’Alene High had lost several games.”

But he didn’t get the coveted giant “C” that other athletes stitched on their letterman’s jackets. In 1925, his senior year, Ace said the team decided not to award letters to him and a few others.

As an adult, Ace worked tirelessly to bolster this town. He and wife Ellen, for example, helped found the Walden House (now part of the Hospitality Center at Kootenai Health).

Despite a successful life, he was happy to receive the belated CHS letter. He planned to get it sewn on a sweater and wander around the CHS campus.

Said he, “I will try to act like I earned it.”

Too Soon Gone

The news shocked friends and fans from the Northwest to the Midwest.

Corissa Yasen, 27, was found dead in her Coeur d’Alene home May 12, 2001.

Yasen, the greatest all-around female athlete from Coeur d’Alene and Purdue University, died of a lethal overdose of prescription drugs, according to the Kootenai County coroner.

The young pharmacist had blessed so many with her sports skills, leadership and humility.

Sports Editor Howie Stalwick of The Press commented: “In a relatively tiny community in a rather isolated part of a nation whose best athletes are, 99.9% of the time, a world apart from the very best of our best, Yasen was better than 99.9% of them.”

Among other things, Corissa led Coeur d’Alene High sports teams to state championships in basketball, cross country, and track and field. At Purdue, she became the school’s first female national champion when she won the NCAA heptathlon. She also played in the WNBA.

She was a terrific all-around person, too.

“I will miss that laugh — a little girl’s giggle, really — and that sly/shy/wry smile,” Stalwick said. “She had a way of making the (seemingly) least important person in a crowd feel special.”

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: For hours on end / I searched my cranium / to find a rhyme / for his geranium — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Ode to Mr. Hagadone’s favorite flower”).

• Happy Publisher: In May 1956, Publisher Burl Hagadone was delighted when Press circulation hit a record 6,128 subscribers. He was so happy that he expanded the editorial staff from four to five, named John Bruning’s father, R.J., general news editor, and jabbed the rival Spokane newspaper. The Press has kept pace with Coeur d’Alene growth, Burl observed, the circulation of the Spokane evening paper has not.

• Bad Idea: The Plaza, a shopping center of up to 79,000 square feet and 254 parking spots, was proposed in May 1956 for what is now McEuen Park. Downtown business owners backed the plan. They were desperate to attract shoppers and “improve an area now bleak and unattractive.” Happily, this goofy idea ended up in the trash bin.

• Namesake: Originally devoted to vocational education, the Hedlund Building at North Idaho College was dedicated May 14, 1976. And state Rep. Emery Hedlund, D-St. Maries, attended the ceremony on a surgically repaired knee. He told Lt. Gov. John Evans that he hurt his knee “trying to get NIC some new buildings.” NIC culinary students still operate Emery’s Restaurant in the Hedlund Building.

• Dodger Blue: An exhibition game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Spokane Indians, their triple-A Pacific Coast League club, attracted 10,198 to Spokane on May 2, 1966. Sheriff John Bender was among the many Kootenai County fans present. Los Angeles, the defending World Series champs, won 4-2. The Dodgers were Coeur d’Alene area favorites until the affiliate moved to Las Vegas after the 1982 season.

Parting Shot

City Attorney William B. McFarland’s retirement triggered an outpouring of gratitude.

For an hour on May 15, 1961, the City Council meeting was all about McFarland, who had served Coeur d’Alene for more than 40 years.

The seven living former mayors paid tribute to McFarland, including H.P. Glindeman, who first appointed him Jan. 25, 1921.

Said Glindeman, “Apparently, I made a good choice as 12 mayors since have reappointed you.”

Then 74, McFarland said: “I think city government is the most important government of all, it is the very grass roots of government.”

On May 3, 1965, McFarland’s son, William D., was appointed city attorney.

The younger McFarland also did so well for so long that Mayor Sandi Bloem proclaimed “William McFarland Day” on Dec. 15, 2005.

Like father, like son.

• • •

D.F. (Dave) Oliveria can be contacted at [email protected].

    Amidee “Ace” Walden admires the Coeur d’Alene High letter that he finally received on his 94th birthday in 2001 — more than 75 years late.
  

    From the Northwest to the Midwest, fans mourned the 2001 death of superstar Corissa Yasen.
  

    The expanded Coeur d’Alene Press staff of 1956 is shown (clockwise from top left): City Editor Charles Sowder, Editor R.J. Bruning, feature writer Martha Pederson, Society Editor Vi Hultner, Publisher Burl C. Hagadone and reporter/photographer Frances Cope.
  

    A 1956 architect’s drawing shows a proposed shopping mall and extensive parking abutting Tubbs Hill on what is now McEuen Park.
  

    Lt. Gov. John Evans plants a Douglas fir at the dedication of the Hedlund Building at North Idaho College in 1976, while namesake state Rep. Emery Hedlund (leaning on a crutch) and college President Barry Schuler watch.
  

    Los Angeles Dodgers manager Walt Alston chats with Kootenai County Sheriff John Bender in 1966 before an exhibition game in Spokane.
  

    Seven of the 12 former Coeur d’Alene mayors, under whom City Attorney William B. McFarland served, gather to honor him at his 1961 retirement. They are (from left): Jess Ray Simpson (mayor from 1931-33), L.L. Gardner (1950-55), O.W. Edmonds (1923-29 and 1941-45), McFarland, H.P. Glindeman (1919-21), P.A. Christianson (1955-61), Jack G. Adams (1947-50) and Axel M. Rosenlund (1945-47).