Lynda Timeus: College experience changes her life
By Diane Rodriquez
Lynda Timeus, 67, is the first person
in her family to go to college. And she did
it at age 55.
Lynda has been married to her hus-
band, Harvey, for 45 years and they live in
Brookings, Ore. They have three children –
Clint, Jay and Sarah, plus 8 grandchildren.
Her parents are Elmer and Geri
(deceased) Jordan. Her grandma on
her dad’s side, May Van Pelt Jordan, is
where her Chetco and Tututni ancestry
comes from.
Lynda’s gratitude for and excitement
about her college experience at Southwest
Oregon Community College is evident in
talking to her.
“I received education funding (for
tuition and books) and was a straight-A
student. I got 70 credits in 2005-06 … the
classes I completed helped me as director
of the Indian Education Program (in the
Brookings-Harbor School District),” she
said. “I can’t reiterate how much speaking,
human services and psychology classes
helped me grow as a person and I used
that information on my job.”
Unfortunately, Lynda had to leave col-
lege following a cancer diagnosis in 2007,
which led to two years of chemotherapy.
But she kept working – and kept using
what she learned in those college classes.
“I can’t tell you how thankful I was
that the Tribe trusted me and helped me
with book fees and tuition. I can attribute
my success to learning, being willing
to reinvent myself and a willingness to
work with others,” Lynda said. “I gained
so much confidence in myself from the
college experience and learned to trust
myself and know that I had a lot to share.
I had as much to share, and it was as
important, as those people who had gone
to college and become teachers. I had as
much to share with those Native children
that I worked with and I wanted to make
a difference in their lives.”
Although you might not sense it when
she talks about her schooling and her
work in the Indian Education Program,
Lynda says she’s a quiet person. But she
wants people to know “that I’m extremely
proud to be Native American. I learned
so much from my father and my other
older relatives. I’m thankful I can share
some of those things with my children
and grandchildren. And I was also able
to share with the children I worked with
through my job.”
Lynda has been giving to others espe-
cially through her job at the school just by
sharing about who she is.
“I’ve shared a part of who I am and
what I know and what my family taught
me,” she said. “Growing up in a large family,
you learn to be kinder, more compassionate
and more caring. I think I took a lot of that
into my work. Just by who I am, I share that
I’m proud to be Native American.”
Lynda says the most pivotal moment
of her life was when she started college
and “realized that I could be my own per-
son, that I had a right to my own opinions.
For more information about the Siletz Tribal language program,
please visit siletzlanguage.org.
When I was growing
up, children should be
seen and not heard. I
always thought I didn’t
have a right to really
voice how I felt or what
I thought. But I finally,
in college, had one
professor and in work-
ing with her, I really
did find myself, the
true me that really was
worth something, that
I could offer some-
thing as long as I didn’t
hurt anybody else.
“I couldn’t be hap-
pier now, how com-
for table I am with
expressing myself. It’s
Lynda Timeus
a big difference.”
File photo
2017
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians
Memorial Day Ceremony
May 29, 2017
11 a.m.
Government Hill
Siletz, Oregon
Procession to Veterans Memorial – Honor Guard
Drum – West Coast Boys
The Lord’s Prayer – Siletz Royalty
Welcome – Tribal Council Chairman Delores Pigsley
Memorial Day Address – Cynthia DePoe-Soulier
Presentation of Flowers
Gun Salute – Honor Guard
Taps
Closing – West Coast Boys
Lunch at the Tribal Community Center
Provided by the Cultural Heritage Committee – Noon
Attention Siletz Contract Health-eligible
Tribal members!
If you receive Contract Health Services approval to see providers/facilities
outside of a Tribal clinic, please be sure to inform them at your visit that you have
Contract Health Services as a form of payment.
We have seen a number of patients billed for services from their medical/
dental/optical providers because the patient did not inform the office that they
have Contract Health Services.
If you have primary insurance (through employment, Medicare, Medicaid,
etc.), we would be secondary to the primary insurance.
If you fail to provide this information to your providers and they don’t bill us
in a timely manner, you could be liable for the charges. Please let your providers
know that they can submit claims for payment to Siletz Contract Health, P.O. Box
320, Siletz, OR 97380.
May 2017
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