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October 6, 1988, Portland Observer, Page 9
ERVER
October 6,1988
Wanda Irving: Director of
Communications, Bureau of
Environmental Services. A Profile
hen asked what it was like had to take care of my little
being black, female and a sister,” Irving explains. “ We were
a small family with no other living
member of Dartmouth College’s
first graduating class of women, relatives to stay with Edna, so I ar­
Wanda Irving pauses briefly then ranged to have her enrolled in
laughs softly as she compares Northfield-Mount Herman board­
ing school in Northfield, Mass.”
her expereince to pioneering.
“ It was like being one of the Edna later entered Harvard Uni­
pioneer women coming West,” versity at the age of 15 and
Irving says. "The professors at graduated at 19.
Academ ics, d iscip lin e and
Dartmouth didn’t want women
there. Many of the professors striving for excellence were
didn’t think women o r blacks qualities that were instilled in Irv­
could handle the academic load ing and her sister at an early age.
“ My parents trained us to deal
of an Ivy League school. So it was
bad enough being female, but be­ with a situation as we found it,”
ing black and a woman I was Irving says of her upbringing. “ We
caught in a double jeopardy. It were told that when things go
wrong, don’t just sit there and
was an uphill battle all the way.”
But Irving was more than pre­ whimper. You get up and try
pared for the academic load. She again. At first, after my mother’s
was a Dean’s List student at Mid­ death I thought — why bother?
dlebury College in Verm ont But then I remembered that it
before transferring to Dartmouth. wasn’t easy for my parents to buy
Irving had completed her Ameri­ land in Dalton, Mass., and live in a
can major in two years at Middle­ town where we were the only
bury and entered Dartmouth as a black family. But they were very
junior selecting English Literature strong people and set a good ex­
as her new major. She was one of ample for me. When things got
50 women, and one of two black rough I reminded myself that if
women, who graduated from Dart­ they could do it, I could do it. I’m
made of the same stock.”
mouth College in 1975.
Irving’s parents moved to Dal­
Today, as Com m unications
Services Director for Portland’s ton, Mass., in the 1960’s. Her
Bureau of Environmental Serv­ father, owner of a construction
ices, Irving says she accepted the company, bought about 500 acres
job because “ it was different from of land in Dalton and built a hous­
my past work experience and I ing development. Her mother was
never run away from a challenge.” a school teacher who had grad­
And run, she never has. Irving's uated from Tuskagee Institute
personal and career life has been and earned her Master’s at Col­
punctuated with challenges that umbia University.
Both parents worked hard at
combined would make good ma­
exposing their children to as
terial fora best-selling novel.
By the time Irving was 19-years- much of life as they could. It was
old, she had already lost both of important that their daughters
her parents in sudden, tragic have a good education, be cultur­
deaths. She and her 14-year-old ally aware and know something of
sister, Edna, were suddenly on their ethnic heritage.
Irving’s family traveled exten­
their own. Irving was completing
her first week at Middlebury Col­ sively during holidays and sum­
lege when her mother was killed mer vacations and attended num­
in a car accident while driving to erous plays, operas and other cul­
the school to be with her daugh­ tural events in nearby New York
ter on her 18th birthday. The City. Irving especially enjoyed
following year Irving’s father died traveling and recalls one visit to
her paternal grandmother when
of a kidney disease.
“ That was a very difficult time she was five years old.
“ I was very young so I don’t
for me. But, it was really hard on
my sister who had cared for my remember exactly where we were,
dad since she was 13-years-old. but we all got into my father’s
She was with my dad during his brand new 1958 Buick to visit my
illness and after his death she grandmother who was an Indian,"
Irving recalls. "I'll never forget
had to grow up fast."
"I was left in quite a delemma. I that trip. We arrived at the Indian
had to finish college but I also reservation, got out of the car and
W
walked past all of these tepees.
She died shortly after that but I’ll
never forget her.”
Irving had her first professional
job in communications at the age
of 16. She worked as a radio news
reporter at WBEC in Pittsfield,
Mass. Before graduating from
Dartmouth she was offered a job
in Seattle, Wash., as a television
anchor woman. However, she
turned down the offer, put her
career on hold and married her
college sweetheart, Samuel Irv­
ing, Jr., a 1983 Willamette Law
School graduate.
After graduation, she and her
husband moved to Portland. Irv­
ing settled into a buyer’s position
at Meier and Frank’s department
store and was later promoted to a
b ra n c h
m a n a g e r.
She
subsequently resumed her career
in the communications field. She
held a variety of positions in­
cluding work as an advocacy
specialist for Multnomah County,
special events coordinator for
Willamette University, program
coordinator for Rogers Cable and
Oregon Public Broadcasting, and
public relations person for a Los
Angeles Lakers basketball player.
Irving has also been nominated
twice to the Marquis’ Edition of
Who’s Who of American Women.
Irving says her current position
as Communications Services Di­
rector for the Bureau of Environ­
mental Services is challenging.
She has held that post since Nov.
1987.
“ I’m enjoying the job because
it’s different and outside of my
past experiences. The technical
aspects of this position constant­
ly intrigue me,” Irving adds.
The Bureau of Environmental
Services handles the City’s sew­
age and wastewater treatment
system. Irving is responsible for
planning and implementing the
Bureau’s publicity and communi­
ty re la tio n s program . The
technical aspect of the job in­
volves Irving breaking down engi­
neering jargon and concepts into
laymen's terms that the general
public will understand.
"Each day is different.” Irving
explains, "One day I can be sit­
ting at my desk with the phone
stuck to my ear for eight hours
and the next writing brochures for
one of our divisions. No matter
how I plan my calendar, some­
thing always comes up at the last
minute so whatever else is on my
schedule for that day must be set
aside.”
It’s not uncommon for Irving’s
day to begin at 8 in the morning
end at 8 in the evening. “ Some­
times I have lunch delivered to my
office or skip lunch altogether,”
she says.
How does she balance a de­
manding job with the equally
dem anding jo b of being a
mother?
"It’s not easy,” Irving says with
a soft laugh. “ I do a lot of
bribing." She has a son Sam, 11,
and a daughter Shalon, 8. Irving’s
son Simone Marcus was killed in
a tragic car accident two years
ago at age 20 months. “ I just hope
Sam and Shalon will grow up to
be independent thinkers and be
all they can be. I tell them daily
how important education is and
that if they want something, all
they have to do is set their mind
to that goal and work hard.”
When she’s not enjoying time
spent with her children, Irving is
active with a variety of community
groups. She is a commissioner .
for the Cable Regulatory Commis­
sion and a member of the North/
Northeast Business Boosters, an
o rg a n iz a tio n d e d ic a te d to
renovating inner city businesses.
When asked who her heroine is
and who she trys to pattern her
life after, Irving replies, “ I can’t
think of anyone besides maybe
my mom. At the same time that’s
sort of a dichotomous answer for
me because my mother always
told me ‘not to walk In anyone’s
shadow.’ She would say ‘You
stand tall and let someone else
walk in yours.”
Irving’s a fighter and a deter­
mined woman. She's overcome
tragedy and great odds in her life
and still maintains a positive
outlook. The innate drive Irving
possesses she attributes to her
mother.
“ She said if you get knocked
down, you get right back up
again," Irving recalls. “ And I've
been knocked down many, many
times. I just keep getting back
up."
PORTLAND OBSERVER
"The Eyes and Ears of the Com m unity"
288-0033
rfflC K C jj
ENTREPRENEUR ERIC L. HOLOMAN, 28, used management training and
savvy to torn an ailing Church’s Chicken franchise Into a profitable venture.
During the recently held National Association of Negro
Business and Professional Women’s 53rd Annual Convention
(NANBPW) in Washington, D.C., William Richardson (right), Vice
President/Urban Market Development of Schieffelin & Somerset, is
shown making a contribution to the NANBPW Scholarship Fund via
National President Jacqui Gates (left).
Schieffelin & Somerset Company is the sole importer of John­
nie Walker Scotch Whiskies, Moet & Chandon Champagnes, Hen­
nessy Cognacs and Tangueray Gin.