8
S moke S ignals
JULY 1, 2018
Former Tribal Council member
Wink Soderberg walks on at 84
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Photo by Auburn Logan
During the Community Input meeting held at the Tribal gym on Wednesday,
June 13, Emergency Management Assistant Brandy Bishop, back left, and
Emergency Operations Coordinator Steve Warden explained guidance and
safety surveys that are used when preparing for emergency situations.
Community Input
meeting attracts 50
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
Tribal Police Chief Jake McK-
night has heard several interesting
suggestions during his time in law
enforcement.
The annual Community Input
meeting was no exception.
“People definitely tell us what
they think we are doing right and
what we can improve on,” he said.
“It’s a good thing.”
McKnight’s department was one
of several represented at the event,
held in the Tribal gym on Wednes-
day, June 13. It attracted approxi-
mately 50 people in addition to 30
staff members.
McKnight said the most interest-
ing suggestion he’d received that
evening had been to put a detox
unit at the Tribal Police Station on
Grand Ronde Road.
He explained to the person mak-
ing the suggestion that intoxicated
people are not arrested unless they
are committing a crime while under
the influence.
“This is a good opportunity to get
to know the community members
and chat one-on-one about what
we do,” McKnight said. “It is kind
of similar to the ‘Chat With the
Chief’ roundtables we have at the
station.”
The evening began with an invo-
cation by Tribal Council Secretary
Jon A. George before a dinner of
chicken, pulled pork, vegetables,
rice, macaroni salad and cookies.
Tribal Council members Kath-
leen George, Brenda Tuomi and
Michael Langley also attended.
Tribal Emergency Operations
Coordinator Steve Warden talked
with attendees about one of his
favorite topics — emergency pre-
paredness.
“It’s important to be ready and
this gives us a chance to talk about
that,” he said. “It’s important to
have a two-week supply of every-
thing so that if a major catastrophe
happens, you’re ready.”
The event was organized by Plan-
ning and Grants Development
Manager Kim Rogers, who said
the main focus of the evening was
to review current projects and
programs, take suggestions for
improvements, and use input for
strategic planning.
“This is an opportunity to collect
input from the community on all of
our programs,” he said. “Over the
years, what we have found works
best is to do an open house format
with different tables people can
visit.”
Departments represented in-
cluded Tribal Police, Emergency
Management, Housing, Education,
Recreation, Natural Resources,
Geographic Information Systems,
Planning and Grants Develop-
ment, Cultural Resources, Tribal
Court, Social Services, Tribal
Employment Rights Office, Em-
ployment, Food Bank, Behavioral
Health and the Health & Wellness
Center.
The future of the Tribe’s trans-
portation plan has been a topic of
discussion recently and meeting
attendees’ suggestions included
adding a new route to Dallas, more
round trips during the day, creating
a new local service loop in Grand
Ronde and late night trips.
Tribal Elder Claudia Leno was
attending for the first time.
“I was hungry,” she joked.
Leno added that she had seen
photos from previous events and
decided to see what was going on.
“There are some good things go-
ing on here and I wish more people
had come,” she said. “My input is
that I wish there were more things
to do here for kids. That has always
been an issue. I’d like to see more
youth involved.”
William Joseph “Wink” So-
derberg, who served two terms
on Tribal Council from 2005 to
2011, walked on Monday, June
25, at the age of 84.
Soderberg was born Dec. 29,
1933, to William Joseph Soder-
berg Jr. and Clarinda Maxine
Quenelle.
According to a 2017 Elders
Features that appeared in
Smoke Signals, Soderberg was
raised in his Grand Ronde Res-
ervation home that did not have
running water and the family’s
outhouse was a 50-yard sprint
away in the middle of the night
or winter cold.
He was raised by his mother
on his grandfather’s dairy farm
that is now home to the Grand
Ronde Water Association office
on Highway 18 east of Spirit
Mountain Casino. His grand-
parents were Fabian Frank
Quenelle and Matilda “Tillie”
Winslow.
His father bestowed his nick-
name on him – a name he used
throughout his life.
His mother, who was a nurse
and popular barber in Grand
Ronde, sent Wink and his older
brother, Arthur Francois So-
derberg, to boarding school in
Mount Angel, which is where he
met his wife of 61 years, Kath-
leen Patricia Hauth. They wed
on Oct. 20, 1956.
They had three sons, 10 grand-
children and five great-grand-
children.
Soderberg served in the Navy
from 1951-54 during the Korean
War era on two different ships in
the Caribbean Sea. After being
discharged, he worked for the
U.S. Postal Service for 26 years
and then had several businesses
that involved sales.
Soderberg said a discussion he
had with key Restoration figure
Marvin Kimsey, who walked on
March 4, 2018, prompted him
to drive from his Lake Oswego
home with his wife to attend
every meeting held by the Tribe
Wink Soderberg
during the effort to be restored to
federal recognition in the 1970s
and early 1980s.
Eventually, he and Kathy
returned to Grand Ronde to be
closer to Kimsey and his late
wife, Michelle.
Soderberg received 367 votes
in the 2005 election and was
re-elected in 2008 with 377
votes. During both elections,
he joined former Tribal Council
members Kathleen Tom and
Reyn Leno in winning seats.
While serving on Tribal Coun-
cil, Soderberg and current Tribal
Council Vice Chair Chris Merci-
er would often joke about which
of them was the most handsome
man on the Tribe’s governing
body.
After leaving Tribal Council,
Soderberg served on the Tribal
Employee Rights Ordinance
Commission.
He is survived by his wife,
Kathy, of Grand Ronde; and
sons, Steven Soderberg and his
wife, Ronee, of Grand Ronde;
Gary Soderberg and his wife,
Jean, of Alaska; and William
Joseph Soderberg III and his
partner, Dave, of Seattle. He was
preceded in death by his brother,
Arthur Francois Soderberg, who
walked on in 2007.
Dallas Mortuary Tribute Cen-
ter is helping the family with
arrangements. Services will be
held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday,
June 30, in the Tribal gym, 9615
Grand Ronde Road.
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