Smith takes home mirror ball
trophy from area dance contest
HEPPNER
State Rep. Greg Smith
of Heppner took home the
mirror ball trophy at the end
of the fifth annual Danc-
ing with the Hermiston
Starts performance Satur-
day night.
Six local celebrities
teamed up with professional
dancers from the Utah Ball-
room Dance Troupe to raise
money for local charities
in the event put on by the
Desert Arts Council. Along
with Smith, Hermiston-area
celebrities included LuAnn
Davison, Spike Piersol, Eva
Swain, Bill Elfering and
Clara Beas-Fitzgerald.
The stars practiced for
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
a week with the profes-
sionals and then performed
G T
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VOL. 136
NO. 3
6 Pages
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Tarnasky retires from a
lifetime of healthcare
By Andrea Di Salvo
1966. As important as her
A Heppner woman with school ties, however, were
life-long ties to Heppner her ties to the local hospital.
medical care is stepping
She, of course, had
away from her work at hospital experiences that
Pioneer Memorial and into anyone might have. They
retirement.
included a week in the
Sheridan Tarnasky, 68, hospital for cellulitis at age
retired officially
five—“My crib was
from Pioneer Me-
in the hall as they
morial Clinic July
had no room in the
29 of last year,
inn,” she quipped—
though she has still
and a night in the
been a presence in
hospital due to a
the Heppner hospi-
broken arm at the
tal and clinic, filling
age of six. She says
in where needed.
she was kept over-
Sheridan
Tarnasky has Tarnasky
night because they
a longer relation-
gave her ether for
ship with Pioneer Memo- her arm.
rial Hospital than many
“Back in those days
can boast. She was born in they kept you in the hospital
Pendleton because, ironi- until you finished throwing
cally, Heppner didn’t have up from the ether.”
a hospital at that time. She
Her ties ran even deep-
returned to the community er than those of a typical pa-
when she was 10 days old tient, however. Her mother,
and has spent most of her Ilene Laughlin, worked in
life since then living in the hospital’s front office
Heppner’s city limits. She for several years and then
did spend a lot of time at spent several more years as
the family ranch growing hospital administrator.
up, but says she was always
“Mom worked in the
a “townie.”
office when I was a tod-
“My cousins made fun dler and then went back
of me because I was a town to work when I was in
kid,” she says.
the sixth grade,” recalls
She attended school in Tarnasky. “That is when I
Heppner from kindergarten started spending time at the
through her graduation in hospital.
“I was up there a lot. I
got my ears pierced sitting
on my mom’s desk,” she
adds.
She says she sat with
her first patient at the age
of 14.
“She was an OB with
some postpartum complica-
New Ione mayor Rod
tions, and they were short-
Taylor was sworn into of-
staffed,” recalls Tarnasky.
fice at the
Despite early exposure
Ione City
to hospital life, she says
Council
she didn’t grow up want-
meeting on
ing to be a nurse. Instead,
Tu e s d a y,
admiration of a high school
Jan. 10.
teacher gave her the goal of
T h e
being a school counselor
council cur-
and drama coach. After she
rently has Rod Taylor
graduated from Heppner
three open
High, she attended a year
positions, and Ione resi-
at Marylhurst University,
dents are asked to consider
Portland, before being ac-
serving their city in that
cepted into the University
capacity. Anyone interested
of Oregon’s theatrical arts
can submit a letter of inter-
program “with every inten-
est or call city hall at 541-
tion of going.”
422-7414.
“Then I woke up one
Ione
mayor
sworn in
morning in June and decid-
ed I wanted to be a nurse,”
she says. She says that, in
a way, it was logical be-
cause both counseling and
nursing involved helping
people.
“Dr. Carpenter told me
once that it made sense
because a really good nurse
has to be a really good ac-
tress,” she adds. “Not that
I’m a really good actress,
but it was nice of him to
say.”
She applied to four dif-
ferent nursing schools and
says it must have been
“divine intervention” that
got her accepted to three
of them in a time when
options for women were
limited and competition for
nursing schools was high.
She ended up attending
Emanuel Hospital School
of Nursing, graduating in
1970. She began work as a
graduate nurse at Pioneer
Memorial that summer.
Then, in September of
1970, she married Edward
Tarnasky and the couple
moved to Portland so he
could finish his education.
She went back to Eman-
uel as a nurse, where she
worked in surgery until
June of 1972. While there,
she assisted with the first
total hip replacement.
“Dr. Zimmerman did it,
and I was a scrub nurse,”
she says.
That medical milestone
was only one of many that
she recalls from her life-
time, she says.
“I’ve seen some inter-
esting things occur,” she
says, giving administration
of IVs as an example—
nurses commonly adminis-
ter IVs now, but it used to be
done only by doctors. “An
MRI wasn’t heard of. Ul-
trasounds were poor, poor
quality. HIV wasn’t even
heard of,” she says.
“One of my favorite
things about medicine to-
day is hospice,” she adds.
“The care of the terminally
ill today, it’s amazing.”
In 1972, with his grad-
uation nearing, Edward
Tarnasky was searching
the newspaper for jobs; he
called on one ad without
even realizing the number
had a Heppner prefix. They
ended up moving back
to Heppner, he to work
for Kinzua Corp. and she
to Pioneer Memorial as a
charge nurse and surgery
supervisor. She stayed at
PMH until 1977. During
that time, both of the cou-
ple’s children were born.
Tarnasky in 1970, the year of
her graduation from nursing
school. -Contributed photo
In July of 1977, Tar-
nasky took a job with the
newly-formed Tri-County
Home Health agency. In
August, the new director
walked out and “that be-
came my job,” she says.
“I had no idea what I was
doing, but I learned really
quick.”
She stayed with Tri-
County until 1985, though
she also filled in at the hos-
pital for maternity leaves,
medical leaves, meetings
and other needs during that
time. In 1985, she returned
to the hospital full time,
again as charge nurse. In
1989 she became director
of nursing at PMH and even
covered as hospital admin-
istrator for four months in
1992. During that time,
1987-88, she also worked
part time for Dr. Wolff for
a year when he came out of
retirement.
“It was a really neat op-
portunity,” she says. “When
you work in the office with
someone, it’s very different
from working in the hospi-
tal with someone.”
In 1996 she returned to
school, entering the Oregon
Health and Sciences Uni-
versity Physician Assistant
Program. She entered in
Rep. Greg Smith and professional dance partner Trina Mor-
ago claimed the mirror ball trophy at Saturday’s Dancing
with the Hermiston Stars performance. -Contributed photo
their dances to try and earn audience votes and money
for charity. Every dollar do-
nated to the charity counted
the program’s second class as a vote for the star. The
and graduated in 1998 as a winner was decided based
certified physician assistant on a combination of votes
(PA-C). She then returned from the audience, donation
to Morrow County and amounts and scores from
worked for a year and a half the judges.
in the Irrigon and Board-
Smith and profession-
man clinics until Pioneer al partner Trina Morago
Memorial Clinic had an danced the paso doble to
opening. She has served as the Kongos’ “Come with
a clinic provider there since Me Now.”
2000.
Smith, who described
Tarnasky says that, himself as having two left
when she went back to feet, said winning was a
school for her certification, shock. Known for his sup-
her plan was to work until port of area wrestling pro-
her certification expired grams, he told the crowd of
when she was 70. Now, nearly 500 that there was
though, she says the needs no doubt which was more
of her family have required difficult.
a change of plans.
“There’s no compari-
“My family needed me son. Wrestling is so much
to be available,” she says. “I easier than dancing,” he
need to put my family first.” said on stage. “This has
She says she will still been hard.”
be available to the health
Despite the weather, the
district if needed until her Hermiston High School’s
license expires, but it’s nice fine arts auditorium was
to be free to spend time with nearly at capacity with a
her family without check- crowd of almost 500 spec-
ing her work schedule. She tators. The event raised
says she has been doing around $11,000 for local
some reading and spend- charities. Smith was danc-
ing time with grandkids— ing to support the Hermis-
though she admits she’s not ton Warming Station.
as excited about retirement
as many people would be.
“That hospital has been
my home away from home
my entire life, and I miss
it,” she says. “It’s an adjust-
ment. I don’t know exactly
what I’m going to do. I’ll
Janet McDowell retired
figure it out,” she adds, say-
from
Wheatland Insurance
ing she’ll likely volunteer
Center,
Inc. on Dec. 31.
at church.
McDowell
started her
“I miss everything but
career
in
insurance
with
paperwork,” she says. “It
Bob
and
Marianne
Kahl
has been a privilege and
an honor to participate in in the late 1990s, and con-
the care of people in this tinued when Wheatland
community for so many purchased that agency in
years. It’s humbling to see a 2001. Her position was ac-
family you’ve gone through count manager for personal
hell in a handbasket with insurance (auto and home).
Nancy Snider of
and see that they’ve sur-
Wheatland
says McDowell
vived and gone on.
will
be
missed
not only by
“I’ve worked with
the
staff
at
Wheatland
but
some remarkable people
also
by
the
many
clients
she
during my lifetime, not only
coworkers but patients and helped during her career.
McDowell herself
families. I miss my patients.
wasn’t
available for an
I have patients I’ve taken
interview,
as friends tell
care of as a nurse and as
us
her
retirement
is in full
a provider, and I consider
swing,
with
she
and
hus-
them part of my family,”
band
Ron
on
their
way
to
says Tarnasky.
Texas
to
spend
some
time
“I thank the community
for always supporting me.” with their son and his fam-
ily.
Lindsay, Orem selected for
D.C. trip
Alex Lindsay of Lex-
ington and Morgan Orem
of Heppner will act as stu-
dent representatives for the
Columbia Basin Electric
Cooperative NRECA Youth
Tour in Washington, D.C.
this summer, June 9-15.
While at the nation’s
capital, the students will
have a chance to speak with
Oregon’s state representa-
tives, learn about electric
cooperatives, listen to mo-
tivational speakers and tour
national landmarks includ-
ing the Smithsonian and the
Vietnam War Memorial.
Alex is active in bas-
ketball, track, FFA, FBLA,
art, culture club and 4-H.
Alex is also a part of the
school’s yearbook class.
Alex has been active in
his community by helping
in the snack shack during
sporting events and help-
ing with “Adopt-a-Family”
during the holidays. Alex
also enjoys helping out
on the family cattle ranch
by branding cows. Alex is
the son of Kim and Barney
Lindsay.
Morgan is Junior Class
President and a member of
National Honor Society.
Morgan also enjoys vol-
leyball, basketball and 4-H,
as well as volunteering
in food drives, 4-H camp
counseling and many other
activities. In her spare time,
Morgan enjoys photogra-
phy, traveling and taking
care of animals. Morgan
is the daughter of Eric and
Brandi Orem.
McDowell
retires from
Wheatland
MORROW
COUNTY GRAIN
GROWERS
350 MAIN STREET
LEXINGTON, OR
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Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
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