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O BITUARIES
Irene Ruth McNall
Nov. 30, 1926 – Sept. 19, 2015
Irene Ruth
McNall, 88, of
Joseph, passed
away peacefully
at Alpine House
with a family
member at her
side on Saturday,
Sept. 19, 2015.
Irene was born
Nov. 30, 1926, in
Wallowa County
at the Neiman
homestead at
the mouth of
Gumboot Creek
on the upper
Imnaha River. She was the first of five children born
to Elmer and Marguerite (Whitcomb) Neiman, second
generation homesteaders.
Irene was homeschooled and also attended schools
along the river where her mother taught until her parents
moved to a farm they bought on upper Prairie Creek. Irene
attended school in Joseph until her parents divorced. She
then stayed home to take care of her four siblings and work
the farm while her mother taught school.
Back in those days, barn dances were one of the few
sources of entertainment and provided the most fun. Irene
loved music and dancing. In 1949, at a dance at the mouth
of Camp Creek on the Imnaha River, Irene met, fell in love
with, and married the only man in her life, Francis McNall
of Zumwalt Prairie. Their first son Kenneth was born in
1950, Harry in 1951, and Michel in 1953. They lived on the
prairie until Ken started school, the last family to move to
town. Irene lived on the farm/ranch they bought outside of
Joseph until moving to Alpine House (a wonderful, caring
place) in 2012.
Irene lived through the Depression and hard times, but
there were also plenty of good wholesome fun times with
family and friends.
With hard work (and she was one hard-working woman)
came an easier life, but she was still driving a tractor well
into her 70s.
Irene loved to hunt and fish, and was very good at both.
Camping, hunting, fishing, and the “good old” Wallowa
County lifestyle was what life was all about to Irene. She
never knew or wanted anything else. In passing, a little
of Wallowa County went with her. Irene was of pioneer/
homesteader stock. People knew her as a real-life farmer,
rancher, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
She will be missed.
Irene was preceded in death by her parents, husband
Francis, brother Donald Neiman, son Harry McNall, and
grandson Michel McNall. She is survived by her brother
William Neiman of Enterprise; sisters Helen Sexton of The
Dalles, and Thelma (husband Virgil) Patton of The Dalles;
sons Kenneth McNall (wife Glenna) of Eugene, and Michel
(wife Laurie) McNall of Joseph; 10 grandchildren and 24
great-grandchildren. A funeral service was held on Sept. 27,
2015, at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Enterprise,
followed by a private interment at the Enterprise Cemetery,
Sept. 28, 2015.
September 30, 2015
Wallowa County Chieftain
WC school enrollments:
up, down and holding
Enterprise,
Joseph Charter
School and
Wallowa show
larger numbers
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
It’s a good year for two
Wallowa County school dis-
tricts and a mixed year for a
third.
Enterprise has 212 chil-
dren in K-6 and 188 in grades
7-12 for a total of 400.
That’s up 17 from last
year.
“It means more money for
the district,” said Superinten-
dent Brad Royse. “I anticipate
us being À at and this does
help. We feel like parents are
recognizing us for the quality
school we are. But that also
means we’ve got some issues
to deal with.”
Two of the issues Royse
is addressing in the ¿ rst few
weeks of school are 36 stu-
dents in sixth grade with one
teacher and an overcrowded
special ed class.
Although special ed stu-
dents are funding at 11 per-
cent over the $7,000 per stu-
dent the districts normally
get, that amount doesn’t be-
gin to cover what special ed
costs. “We’re way over on
special ed kids than what we
will get paid for,” said Royse.
“The money will not nearly
match what we’ll spend on
our special ed kids.”
Enterprise offers free and
reduced lunches for poverty
level students and 34 to 35
percent of the school popu-
lation will take advantage of
that. The district also offers
breakfast each day.
“We’re not quite as inno-
vative as other districts with
our own garden,” Royse said,
“But we do have Randy Gar-
Steve Tool/Chieftain
Enterprise School’s student enrollment jumped by 17 from its year-ago level, and now stands
at an even 400 students.
nett who does a great job with
lunches and we’re seeing
more secondary kids stick
around for our lunches rather
than go downtown.”
All-day kindergarten en-
rollment dropped slightly,
from 25 to 23.
“It’s a long day for a kid
and I thought a lot about that
and we heard from our par-
ents as well,” Royse said.
“Most parents wanted a half-
day when we did the survey
some years ago. But the state
has mandated a full day.”
During that full day,
5-year-olds will be subjected
to common core and will be
expected to begin learning to
read.
“You’d be surprised at
the curriculum they’re doing
now,” Royse said. “Our stan-
dards are so far up. It’s phe-
nomenal to me how in-depth
that stuff is. We aren’t able to
provide a lot of playtime for
them — it’s a whole differ-
ent ball game with common
core.”
Enterprise also has a
small population of home-
less children attending. Last
year there were six homeless
students. “At this moment
we have zero referrals,” said
homeless liaison Lisa Far-
well. “That doesn’t mean we
have zero homeless. There
is a very speci¿ c de¿ nition
for homeless that requires
µno ¿ xed place of residence.’
The typical kid, living with
grandma and grandpa are not
considered homeless, even if
they’re not with their legal
guardians.”
Joseph Charter School
records 150 students in K-6,
105 in grades 7-12 and four
from Imnaha. That’s up sig-
ni¿ cantly from last year’s 230
total.
“We’ll have more dollars
since we have more kids and
it strengthens our programs
when we can put more kids
in those classes,” said Dis-
trict Superintendent Lance
Homan.
Twenty-four kids are in
kindergarten; last year there
were 25. “They do all the
core classes on top of music,
art and skills,” said Homan.
“With common core some of
the expectations that used to
be for ¿ rst grade have been
pushed down to kindergarten,
there’s a lot more expected of
kindergärtners. Our teacher,
Alyse Shetler, builds a lot of
movement into their classes.”
Homan has just appointed
Michelle Keffer as homeless
liaison, but there are no re-
ferrals yet this year and there
were none last year.
Joseph Charter School has
46 percent of its population
in the free and reduced-cost
lunch program. They are able
to enhance that program with
fresh produce from Magic
Garden in Imnaha during the
season. The school also offers
free breakfast for grades K-4.
Wallowa School District
reports 110 students in K-6
and 101 in grades 7-12 for a
total of 211. That’s up in high
school and down in K-6.
“Unless our enrollment in-
creases next year we’ll see a
reduction in our state schools
fund,” said Wallowa Superin-
tendent Bret Uptmor.
Wallowa has had all-day
kindergarten for many years
and paid for it out of Title 1
and General Fund dollars, but
will have it paid for by the
state this year.
Wallowa’s special ed class
supports 29 kids and has 1.8
teachers.
Wallowa School District
has not had a homeless stu-
dent referral, thus far.
The percentage of students
who will qualify for free and
reduced lunches has not been
calculated yet. Wallowa also
has a free breakfast program
open to any student.
Troy School District has
two students this year in ¿ rst
and third grade. Lunches are
brought from home and cur-
rent students eat breakfast at
home. “We could have break-
fast if they wanted it,” said
Fred Byers, teacher and ad-
ministrator.
High and Low Temperatures
Courtesy of Weather Underground. www.wunderground.com
Enterprise
Date
Sept. 23
Sept. 24
Sept. 25
Sept. 26
Sept. 27
Sept. 28
Sept. 29
Now Open!
106 W. Main St Enterprise • Tues-Sat 7:30-2:30 • 541-426-0362
Winding Waters Clinic
OHSU Resident
Amelia Baker, MD
t S udent
k
e
e
W
e
of th
Madison Isley
Enterprise Seventh Day
Adventist School
Madison Isley is in first
grade this year and new to
Enterprise SDA School.
She has a love for learning
and is excited to share
what she knows with the
class. Her sweet
disposition and friendly
attitude have made her
a great addition to
our school!
9/22/15- 10/14/15
Hours:
Monday - Friday
7:00am to 7:00pm
Saturday
9:00am to 1:00pm
603 Medical Parkway
Enterprise, OR 97828
High
80
80
86
73
69
73
57
Lostine
Date
Sept. 23
Sept. 24
Sept. 25
Sept. 26
Sept. 27
Sept. 28
Sept. 29
Joseph
Date
Sept. 23
Sept. 24
Sept. 25
Sept. 26
Sept. 27
Sept. 28
Sept. 29
Low
39
42
39
48
35
26
35
Date
Sept. 23
Sept. 24
Sept. 25
Sept. 26
Sept. 27
Sept. 28
Sept. 29
Low
46
45
44
47
40
33
39
Low
39
42
39
48
35
26
35
High
80
80
86
73
69
73
57
Wallowa
High
80
80
86
73
69
73
57
Date
Sept. 23
Sept. 24
Sept. 25
Sept. 26
Sept. 27
Sept. 28
Sept. 29
Imnaha
The Student of the Week is chosen for
academic achievement and community
involvement. Students are selected
by the administrators of
their respective schools.
Low
39
42
39
48
35
26
35
High
80
80
86
73
69
73
57
Troy
High
72
77
87
71
64
68
61
Date
Sept. 23
Sept. 24
Sept. 25
Sept. 26
Sept. 27
Sept. 28
Sept. 29
Low
39
42
39
48
35
26
35
High
80
80
86
73
69
73
57
Six-day forecast
Sept. 30 – Oct. 5
Source: Weather Underground
Sept. 30:
H: 78 L: 37
Clear
Oct. 1:
H: 69 L: 35
Mostly Cloudy
Oct. 2:
H: 68 L: 35
Clear
Oct. 3:
H: 63 L: 32
Chance of Rain
Oct. 4:
H: 64 L: 35
Clear
Oct. 5:
H: 68 L: 36
Clear
Oct. 4
Starts October 2nd, 2015 WWW.JOSEPHY.ORG 541.432.0505
Low
39
42
39
48
35
26
35
Last Quarter
Phases of the moon
Oct. 13
Oct. 2-
Oct. 27
New Moon
1st Quarter
Full Moon