Heppner gazette-times., March 12, 1997, Image 1

Winnie Flynn and Father Gerry Condon to
be honored at the St. Patrick's Celebration
Heppner has "adopted" two
o f Ireland's own and
the
community will honor those
two at the annual St Patrick's
Celebration March 14-16
The two, both bom in
Ireland, but on different ends
of the Emerald Isle, are Winnie
Flynn and Father Gerry
Condon
E ^ S S I E W E T Z E L I
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E u g e n e
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VOL 116_______ NO. 11_______ 8 Pages Wednesday, March 12, 1997,_______ Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
New practitioner starts at clinic
worked for the Keizer Corp.
While working for Keizer in
Portland Haack specialized in
critical care and trauma, and
also ran the open heart clinic
at the Keizer Sunnyside
facility.
Haack says she became
interested in rural health care
years ago when she was caring
for her father who had
Multiple Sclerosis. "I love
working in a rural area. I get to
know the families and can give
total care, and better care that
way."
A nurse practitioner can do
everything a doctor can at the
Wendy Haack
clinic, she says, including
Wendy Haack, the new minor surgery. "On complex
family nurse practitioner at patients I consult with the
the Pioneer Memorial Clinic, doctors," she adds.
began seeing patients last
Monday.
Haack, 40, comes to
Heppner from Portland where
The Kid-A-Ride Amusement,
she was commuting to a job in featuring a Ferris Wheel, moon
Washington, and had also walk, a train, games and more,
Coffee Hour is
music and fun
The annual KUMA coffee
hour will be held as usual this
Saturday beginning at 10a.m.
upstairs at the Elks in
Heppner.
Music will be a big part of
the show again this year, with
the featured group being the
multi-talented John Doherty
and the Irish Singers.
Also on tap will be the local
sin g in g
group
the
Sentimentalists.
Greg Smith will be hosting
the show this year, as his
father Ted, who has done the
show every year in the past, is
not able to make it.
Kiddy rides for St. Pat's festival
SPECIAL ELECTION
RESULTS
M o rro w C o u n ty
will be in Heppner March 15-
17, during the St Patrick's
Celebration
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Tuesday, March 11, 1997
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Blue Mountain Community College, Position #3
David D. Gallaher
Mark F a irg riev e
305
80
100
235
200
920
71
30
25
105
67
298
Blue Mountain Community College, Position #6
B ru ce C. C a m p b e ll
236
47
48
168
119
618
J.
63
15
12
77
24
191
164
42
71
87
99
463
C h r is to f
Cook
D o u g l a s K. Harper
Morrow County School District, Director, Zone #2
L is a M . N e l s o n
306
57
51
194
205
813
D w a y n e Carroll
304
113
146
230
186
979
Sharron L. M e y e is
181
181
Jim H an kins
73
73
Morrow County Health District, Zone #2
Morrow County Health District, Zone #3
R obert M c K i n l e y
86
A lb erta A k ers
40
B u d L. W allain
33
John Prag
124
V ick i Kent
143
Morrow County One Year Levy
Yes
841
No
726
Measure No. 25-26, City of Heppner five-year serial levy
Yes
327
327
No
249
249
M orrow C ounty results, c o n tested races a n d m oney issues only.
Winnie Flynn
Winnie, one o f 10 children
born to Patrick and Bridget
Mulkerrin, lived in Connemara,
west of Galway Winnie speaks
Gaelic fluently and knew no
English when she came to the
U S when she was 16 years
old In her day, she says,
Gaelic was automatic. "It was
all we knew," said Winnie
Winnie
says
that
the
government in her area is
trying to preserve the language
and, as recently as seven years
ago, when she returned to
Ireland, paid students to speak
Gaelic If a child used English
in public, that child's funding
would be cancelled, she said
Although Irish, Winnie's
father, who was very pro-
American, joined the U S.
Army and served in France
Anyone joining the army at
that
time
was
granted
American citizenship, as were
their children, regardless of
where they were born Patrick
and Bridget were married in
the U S , settled in Boston and
four o f their children were
born there At that time in the
U S , many people were
prejudiced against the Irish and
they often had a difficult time
finding work., encountering
"Help wanted-no Irish need
apply" signs in business
windows Patrick was able to
find a job at the at the woolen
mills and then at the water
department
In
1929,
however, the family moved
back to Ireland because of the
Depression
In Ireland, the family lived
right on the ocean and Patrick
fished in the summer They
dried the fish in the sun and
saved it for the winter They
also had sheep and a garden
and perhaps "once every five
years had pork" Her mother
made butter and fresh soda
bread with raisins "Everything
was fresh," said Winnie,
"carrots, potatoes and parsnips
and all kinds o f fish and
scallops."
In 1948, the family moved
back to Boston Winnie's
father, oldest brother and two
older sisters came first,
sending for her mother and the
rest o f the children later
Patrick was so well respected
at the water department that he
got his old job back-after 20
years
Winnie had a "fantastic
cruise" across the Atlantic,
"probably the only one I'll ever
have," she says But when she
arrived, 16 years old and
speaking no English, it was
very difficult "I told my mom
I wouldn't go to school," says
Winnie Instead she went to
work in a hospital where her
older sister was a nurse and
Winnie
"listened
very
carefully"
to
learn
the
language Winnie met a young
Irish-American man there and
within two years, in 1956, she
married George Flynn, whose
grandparents on both sides
were Irish immigrants
Winnie says that she had
never tasted ham until moving
to Boston and she remembers
her mother sending her to the
store for "Wonder Bread"
In 1964 Winnie's parents
moved from Boston to
California and five o f their
children and families came
along Mark, Theresa, Mary,
Philomena and Winnie moved
to California, while Patrick,
Morgan, Bridget, Coleman and
Ann remained in Boston
Winnie's mother, however,
discovered that she hated
California, so she and Patrick
moved back to Boston The
children who moved remained
in California
Much o f Winnie's positive
attitude was instilled by her
father, who, she says, "was a
wonderful, loving, religious
man " The family was poor and
Patrick never owned a car,
traveling by train or bus, but
they were happy. And Winnie
is passing those values on to
her seven children "I always
tell my children to say, 'yes, 1
can'," says Winnie "Life is
wonderful if you give it a
chance We never hang up the
phone without saying, 'I love
you' Life is too short."
Winnie's children, George,
J r, John, Mary, Patrick,
Morgan, James and Joseph are
all named after family with the
exception of Joseph Before he
was born, Winnie lost a baby
and made a novena to St
Joseph that if she had a baby
boy, she would name him
Joseph
Son John started his own
business in his bedroom when
he was 16 years old He moved
from the bedroom to the
garage and then to a shop
Patrick, Morgan, James and
Joseph now all work for the
company John started, which
does
plumbing
repairs,
"anything and everything"
Mary is a nurse and wants to
become a nurse practitioner
and oldest son, George is the
superintendent for a gas
company
Ironically, John no longer
works for his own company
Instead, he moved to Heppner
and eventually got the folks to
come along In San Diego, he
met a man from Pilot Rock
who told him of the Irish w ho
had established sheep ranches
in Oregon So, John and
Patrick traveled first to Joseph
and then to Heppner They saw
Art Kelly's real estate sign,
met the realtor at the library
and bought a house at
Eightmile John married his
wife. Marlinda, at St Patrick's
Church in Heppner and George
and Winnie came up for the
wedding "My husband loved
it, but I was tired of moving,"
said Winnie George came up
to visit John and the Flynns put
their house in California up for
sale "I didn't think it would
sell," said Winnie "But it sold
the next day " Unfortunately,
while they were in the middle
o f moving to their new home
on Hinton Creek, with half of
their things in California and
half in Heppner, George had a
heart attack It was a very
stressful time, but George is
fine now and they love life in
Morrow County
"Heppner reminds me a lot
o f Ireland, except not so
green," says Winnie "The
people are beautiful and the
area, gorgeous I'm grateful to
God were here " She says that
the children, whom she talks to
"all the time on the phone"
would move up here in a
minute if their jobs would
allow "There (in California),
people don't give a hoot for
lives," adds Winnie
Besides helping out with the
cows on the ranch, which she
loves, Winnie, now 64, enjoys
her grandchildren, David, who
is John's son, George Jr and
Meghan, who are George's,
and Courtney, who is Patrick's
She is active in St Patrick's
church and takes communion
to an older woman in the
community and volunteers
once a month at St Patrick's
Senior Center
Father Gerry Condon
Father Gerry Condon, was
born in Dublin in 1927 to
James and .Anne Condon His
father was a chiropodist
(doctor o f the foot) and his
mother was a homemaker
Father Condon had two sisters,
Fredericka Thullier. named
after his father's grandmother,
who is still living in Ireland,
and Sylvia, who passed away
seven yeais ago
Father Condon attended an
all Gaelic grade school, but
spoke English at home "That
was an era where the Irish
government
insisted
on
Gaelic," said Father Condon,
who adds that there are areas
where Gaelic is still spoken,
but in many places it has faded
away.
After grade school, he went
to a commercial technical
school
and
learned
b o o k k e ep in g ,
typing,
shorthand and other business
skills In that system, after
grade school, students would
go to business school, trade
school, such as brick laying, or
go to high school
After commercial school, at
around 16 years old, he went
to work for several years for
accountants "I thought it was
great," said Father Condon "I
didn't have to go to school
anymore " But after talking to
the accountants, he realized
that
he needed
further
education So, he started
attending night school, taking
more
bookkeeping
and
accounting classes, while
working in the daytime After
around two years in night
school, he started helping out
at a night shelter for the
destitute and homeless It was
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