Cunningham s honored as St. Pat's fam ily
. ; ‘« V
i a
v;
HEPPNER
.
•'
*.. .
e
im e s
VOL. 115
NO. 10
10 Pages Wednesday, March 6, 1996,
Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
Lady Cards State
Champs
More photos inside
............................... .
p o w t**
y m m
. .NW'»
M
HM*
<****&>
» m m **
■
-
nmm
State Champions
Health district votes to extend Boss's contract
By April Hilton-Sykes
The Morrow County Health
District (MCHD) board voted to
extend its contract with Dr.
Robert Boss to provide physi
cian's services for the medical
clinic in Boardman for another
year.
M CHD has offered Boss
$130,000 a year, the same salary
amount as his current contract.
Under the current contract Boss
keeps the clinic's receipts in ad
dition to the $130,000 and pays
no rent for the clinic building,
which is owned by the district.
Boss rejected an earlier pro
posal by MCHD, not publicly
disclosed by MCHD officials.
Boardman pharmacist Ray
Michael said that if the board
doesn't work out a contract
agreement with Boss, problems
between MCHD, Boss and
some Boardman residents will
intensify. " I think the divisive
ness is just going to get worse
and w orse," said Michael.
"W h it you've seen in the press
is just the stait," Michael add
ed, referring to an editorial on
Murray Drugs of Heppner and
M CHD board member Meg
Murray written by Ed Glenn in
the Boardman's North Morrow
Times tabloid newspaper. Mur
ray is a former owner of Mur
ray Drugs, w’hich is now ow n
,
*
ed and operated by her son and
his wife, John and Ann Mur
ray. Glenn, a former lawyer
and former tabloid newspaper
publisher in Boardman, was
defeated by Don McElligott of
lone in a bid for Morrow Coun
ty Commissioner.
Michael, in addition to own
ing the Boardman Pharmacy, is
a member of the MCHD budget
committee, a member of the
Boardman Chamber of Com
merce and a member of the
Boardman City Council. The
North Morrow Times, publish
ed by John and Lynn Prag of
Boardman, is partially funded
by the Boardman Chamber of
Commerce. The Boardman
Chamber and city council have
urged MCHD to contract with
Boss and have said that they
support the withdrawal of
Boardman from M CHD to
establish a Boardman health
district.
Dr. Boss's current contract
will expire May 1.
In other business, MCHD
learned that Pioneer Memorial
Hospital has hired Teresa Alt-
man-Lang, from Palouse, WA,
as director of nursing services.
Altman-Lang replaces current
director, Sheridan Tarnasky,
RN, who will be attending col
lege full time this spring to
become a physician's assistant.
M CHD is also finalizing con
tract negotiations with Dr.
Juergen Lang to work at Pio
neer Memorial Clinic in Hepp
ner. Current doctors, Drs. Ed
and Jeanne Berretta, have in
dicated that they will not renew
their contract with MCHD, but
have given no official notice.
Dr. Lang and Altman-Lang are
husband and wife.
The M CHD budget commit
tee, consisting of chairman
Larry Mills, Ray Michael, board
members Bob McKinley, Jim
Hankins, Meg Murray and
Cara Osmin, M CHD executive
staff, Dan Grant and Russ De-
mianew, and M CHD CEO
Kevin Erich, met prior to the
board meeting. Board member
Norma Stahl and Bill Sheirbon
are also on the budget commit
tee. The next budget commit
tee meeting is set for Wednes
day, March 27, at 7 p.m. at Ir-
rigon City Hall.
Ballots due
Voters are reminded that
ballots for the primary presi
dential election, which includes
the issue of home rule for Mor
row County, are due in to the
Morrow County Clerk's office
by Tuesday, March 12.
V vc/
V
.■* T>- •* *■ ■
, » .
* /' *Vi
Back (l-r): grandson Bruce Moyer, son Bill Cunningham; center (l-r) daughter Betty McDonald,
son Bob Cunningham, daughter-in-law Mary Cunningham; front, daughter-in-law Esperanza
Cunningham.
The Cunningham family has
been selected as the honored
Irish family for the 14th annual
St. Patrick's celebration plann
ed for March 15-17 in Heppner.
The Cunningham patriarch,
William Patrick Cunningham,
was born in the County Long
ford, Ireland on August 15,
1884, to Patrick and Margaret
(Irwin) Cunningham.
William's first venture from
home was in 1897 when he was
approximately 14 years of age.
Without the apparent know
ledge or permission of his pa
rents, he traveled to Scotland
to work in the coal mines. In
the 1800s, this was very hard
and dangerous work. In 1899,
William's father, Patrick, dis
covered the whereabouts of his
son and went to Scotland to
bring him back to Ireland.
William later told the story of
how happy he was to see his
father and leave the coal mines.
After returning to Ireland he
lived with his parents until he
sailed to the United States in
1904, when he was 20 years
old. He often told the story,
that after arriving in the United
States and living in this strange
new country without a job and
without any money, he decid
ed to ask his parents if they
would loan him some money
until he could find work. They
responded by telling him that
money was so abundant in the
United States that he only
needed to bend over and pick
it up. Needless to say, he did
not receive any money from
Ireland, nor did he ask for any
more loans.
One of William's first jobs,
after being processed through
immigration at Ellis Island, was
working on a street car in N ew
York City. He also worked at
an ice cream factory called
Reed's Ice Cream Company.
In 1907, William decided to
" G o West Young M an" and
ended up in Heppner, working
on a sheep ranch owned by
George Currin. In 1908, he
went to Alaska and worked as
a blacksmith, earning $5 per
day sharpening picks and tools
for the gold miners. In the ear
ly 1900s, $5 per day was con
sidered a tidy sum of money.
However, this prosperous time
was ruined when other labor
ers came to the gold fields and
offered to work for one half the
wage that was currently being
paid. This resulted in a strike
and W illiam subsequently
returned to Heppner.
Upon returning to Heppner,
he worked for J.B. Huddleston
of Lonerock herding sheep. He
next moved to Portland and
worked for Union Meat Com
pany. He later owned and
operated a saloon in Portland
on 6th and Morrison Street call
ed the "Athletic Club". He
moved his saloon to 700 Union
Avenue N „ then sold it and
returned to Heppner.
In 1911, he purchased and
operated the Shamrock Saloon
in Heppner. This saloon was
located where the former Full
erton Chevrolet Garage and the
present day U.S. Forest Service
office is located on Main Street.
Catherine "K a tie " Brennan
was born in the County Ros
common, Ireland, on Decem
ber 23, 1890, to Patrick and
Mary (Owens) Brennan. She
sailed to the United States in
1909 from Queenstown, Ire
land, with her uncle, Mike
Brennan. After they were pro
cessed through Ellis Island,
they traveled to Oakland,
California, where they stayed
for a few weeks. They then
traveled to Aurora, where she
stayed with her uncle and aunt
until 1911.
On October 30, 1911, William
married Katie in Pendleton. He
had met her at one of the Irish
clubs in Portland. The wedding
ceremony took place at St.
Mary's Catholic Church with
John C. Doherty, a cousin of
the groom, as best man and
Sara Doherty, an aunt of Ger
trude Applegate, as the brides
maid.
In 1913, William and Katie
moved to the Hisler Ranch on
Little Butter Creek with their
infant son William. In 1915 they
took out a homestead in the Lit
tle Butter Creek area of Morrow
County. The family lived on the
homestead until they moved
back to Heppner with their six
children in 1927.
After moving to Heppner,
William worked for Morrow
County Road Department for a
year and then worked for
various farmers in the area un
til 1934. In January 1934, the
family ’ moved to a farm in
Aurora. The farm had been
owned by Katie's uncle, Mr.
Gilbertson, who had passed
away.
They remained on the farm
in the Willamette Valley until
June 1935 and then returned to
Heppner. After returning to
Heppner, William worked for
the W .P.A. during the summer
of 1935 and returned to work
for the Morrow County Road
Department in the fall of 1935.
He remained with the road
department until he retired in
1955.
William arrived in the United
States believing that he had
been born on June 9, 1881. His
actual birth date was August
15, 1884. He was not aware of
this discrepancy until he ap
plied for his Social Security
retirement benefits in the 1950s.
In Ireland, at the time of his
birth, usually the only recor-
continued on page 6
H-V*. /• :%
V.
*.**-• * *
■:?. v --
• •• - . V ■ s N
•
l
.- V
Bill and Catherine Cunningham
»V .
Cenex
Spring Oil Sale
5 1 8 -1 5 /4 0
5 1 8 -3 0
Qwiklift
Drum Sale Ends 3-16*96
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221
1-800-452-7396 ___
V
V ..
•
W<*1*£*1
^ - . v ;S S V f r 5
ai wwaí&'S
? V.*%. * -o
’•