Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
If Connie O’Neill had her choice of a job, it would be to do arts and crafts. Instead, she does a variety of handiwork as a hobby, making things for family, friends and strangers. She especially enjoys making things for her grandchildren.
“I live for my grandkids,” she said.
Her husband Pat’s passion is politics, and he is now Whitman County’s newest commissioner.
“He’s loved politics all his life,” Connie said.
Connie and Pat were high school sweethearts in Hartford, Wis. Pat grew up on the farm homesteaded by his ancestors. Three times a day, every day, an airplane with a red tail flew over his home. One day, he realized someone must work on the airplanes and his high school counselor told him there were such people. After graduating, Pat went to school and became an aircraft mechanic. He started working for United Airlines in 1967. Three years later he and Connie married.
Pat worked for United Airlines for more than 35 years while Connie raised their three children. After the first year of work with the company, Pat received a round trip ticket for anywhere he wanted to go. He had spent his whole life in the midwest and wanted to go elsewhere. Someone recommended he go see Mt. Rainer and he didn’t know where that was. When told it was in the great Pacific Northwest, he booked his trip to Seattle. Fog in Seattle and Portland forced the plane to land in San Francisco.
A couple of days later he made it to Seattle and took in the downtown sights and the view from the top of the Space Needle. From the high vantage, he took pictures and film of Mt. Rainer. When Pat came home he told Connie he wanted to live in Seattle some day.
That dream became a reality after Pat transferred to Chicago and San Francisco. They settled in Stanwood where they lived for 18 years. Their children graduated from school there and their son and his family are still there. Their children had been in 4H and FFA. One daughter, Kim, went to Washington State University and then taught at Colton for two years before going to the University of Idaho where she is a student recruiter. Their other daughter attends school in Texas.
When Pat retired from aircraft mechanics, he knew he still had to make money. So he earned his commercial license and started driving truck. For three years he roamed the country, especially the West, behind the wheel.
One day, Kim saw a house for rent at the end of Becker Road in Johnson and called to tell him about it. Pat was already scheduled to haul cargo to Moscow, so he called and set up a time to look at the house. A month later Connie came over and they settled in.
Connie noted they had talked about moving to Eastern Washington before the move, especially since she wanted to be here when her grandchildren were born.
Being closer to her daughter also meant more projects for her. While Kim was working for the school, she asked Connie to make characters for the Colton-Uniontown fair. Those characters are still used and have also been at the Palouse Empire Fair. Connie also paints ornaments, signs and other things that Pat cuts out for her with his scroll saw.
“I make sawdust, she does the painting,” Pat said. She is always thinking of new things to paint and is now working on a little football player for Green Bay Packers’ fan Pat.
Connie has been doing crafts since she was 16 when she did a portrait of the Last Supper where she crushed tile for the background and sculpted the foreground out of clay. She also does plastic canvas stitching and makes children’s names and a large sign for Frolickers, their square dance group.
Connie also makes her own square dancing clothes. She makes chocolate mints for wedding and special occasions. This summer she spent a lot of time in the kitchen canning fruits and jam.
Pat has long been active in politics. While with United Airlines he represented the labor union with the legislature and federal government and loved every minute of it. He was an active member of the Snohomish Democrats, serving as vice president for a time. For many years he would spend election day going around to different polling locations. When President Bill Clinton arrived for a conference, he was among ushers for the event.
German Potato Salad
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. flour or cornstarch
4 slices bacon
6 red medium potatoes
1/4 cup vinegar
Cook potatoes in water until fork goes through. Drain and peel potatoes then cut into slices and place in a bowl. Add one diced onion if desired to cooked potatoes.
Mix water, sugar and vinegar together, add in corn starch and blend. Cook bacon until brown and spoon off grease. Boil grease and liquid mixture, then pour over potatoes.
Oriental Chicken Salad
1 cabbage
6 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 bunches green onions
sugar
sesame seeds
Chicken Top Ramen noodles
1 cup oil
2-3 chicken breasts
Cut cabbage and onion into a bowl. Cook chicken breast and cut into pieces. Crush Top Ramen noodles over salad. Mix vinegar, sugar, oil and flavor packet and boil. Mix with salad. Save in refrigerator until ready to eat salad.
Cucumber Salad
3-4 cucumbers peeled and sliced
3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup oil
1 tomato, sliced
Peel cucumbers and then slice off ends. Slice cucumbers into bowl filled with water and then add salt. Let stand until salt goes through cucumbers. Next slice you onion and put in with cucumbers. Drain cucumbers into a strainer. Mix the water, sugar and vinegar and oil. Add to cucumbers and cut in tomato. Serve cold.
Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.
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