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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1915-06-11 - Ava Sophia Adams Accepted the 1st Diplomatukwila reporter 10 • 2014 Ava Adams: Poster's first grad Foster High School celebrates 100th year coverstory page 6 Ava Sophia Adams made history on June 11, 1915, when she accepted the first diploma awarded by Foster High School. This school year, the Foster High community is marking the school's CENTENNIAL. Two 1966 Foster grads, Ron Lamb and Ed Ziolkowski, took a road trip back in time to learn more about Ava. 6 OCTOBER 2014 « www.TUKWILAREPORTER.com cover A diligent Ava Adams made history This profile of Ava Sophia (Adams) Baint- er was written by Ron Lamb, a 1966 gradu- ate of Foster High School, and researched by members of the Foster High community. BY RON LAMB Ava Sophia (Adams) Bainter was in a class by herself. Literally. She was the only member of the Foster High School class of 1915, the school's first. Just a year before, the school board ap- proved a fully accredited high school course of instruction, on the recommenda- tion of district Superintendent L. M. Dim - mitt. Foster already offered high school classes in the Foster Grade School but had not yet awarded a diploma. As Foster celebrates its centennial this school year, new details of its first graduate have come to light. Ava was already taking high school classes at Foster by then, having entered as a 16-year-old eighth grader just three years before. She requested that she be placed in the eighth grade so that she would have a solid background for high school work. She received the first diploma Foster ever granted, on June 11, 1915. She was 20 years old. In the 1916 school yearbook, she was de- scribed as "faithful, diligent, and intensely studious, conscientiously devoted to duty, wherever duty might call ..:' Compassionate and kind, she also was formal, frugal and particular about the way things were done, say those who knew her in Hot Springs, Mont., where she lived her final 40 years. Growing up in Arkansas, she faced a hard life until moving to Riverton, now a neighborhood in the city of Tukwila. Her mother and father lost four children be- fore they moved to Riverton in 1911 when the father got a job as a laborer in a Seattle shipyard. Deeply religious, though not commit- ted to one church at that time, she began attending Sunday evening meetings of a Ave Adams, front, at left, poses in this family portrait with her parents, Harry and Della Adams, and her sister Beulah. Ava's parents and other family members are buried at the Riverton Crest Cemetery in Tukwila. Family photo. ON THE COVER: On June 11, 1915, Ava received the first -ever Foster High School diploma, which included her photo. Ron Lamb (pictured) and Ed Ziolkowski visited Ava Bainter's grave in Plains, Mont., during their road trip to Montana last summer. Ed Ziolkowski youth group at the Riverton Methodist Church. At her home during private prayer on the evening of April 25, 1915, in her se- nior year at Foster, she decided to dedicate her life to preaching and service to the rela- tively new Nazarene Church, an offshoot of the Methodist church. A local family and a visiting Nazarene clergyman helped her enroll at Pasadena University, also called Nazarene Univer- sity, where she was in contact with church founders Dr. Phineas Bresee and H. Orton Wiley. Pasadena University is now Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Ordained an Elder in the church in Portland in 1924, she served in churches throughout the Northwest and was instru- mental in the formation of at least one. A history of the First Church of the Nazarene in Eugene, Ore., published in 1980, de- scribes her part in the beginnings of that church in 1930. "Those were days of hard work and some self-denial, but we enjoyed the rich bless- ing of God;" she said for the history. "We rented this little building which had been an old-fashioned butcher shop. The refrig- erator part was built by hand, and I believe they insulated them with sawdust between two boards, or two walls:' "It had been built with old-fashioned square nails;' she described, and the work of tearing out the refrigerator was long and hard. Soon after the work of starting the church was completed, however, she had to leave due to poor health. She moved on to other churches throughout the Northwest and in 1948 ended up in Hot Springs, where she hoped the commercial spas there would improve the health of her new husband Melvin. It did not, and Melvin died Aug. 19, 1950. Heart -broken at the loss, she gave up preaching and focused on church and Sun- day School services in the combination house and church that her late husband built before he passed away. [ more AVA page 7 Telling story took good timing Finding Ava Sophia (Adams) Bainter, Foster's first graduate, re- quired teamwork and timing. Beginning earlier this year, local history detectives searched online sources, made phone calls and even went on a road trip to western Mon- tana for in -person interviews with people who personally knew Ava. Prior to that time, little was known locally about Ava, other than her name and that she received the first diploma ever issued by Foster High School 100 years ago this school year. But the school's approaching cen- tennial prompted further research. Starting with a page in the 1916 school yearbook that described Ava and the first commencement exer- cises, amateur researchers included former principal Cheryl (Hanson) Lanyn Morgan, current school board president Mark Wahlstrom and Ron and Nancy Lamb. Next stops on the trail were the commercial web sites ancestry.com and findagrave.com. Public records online included the U.S. Federal Cen- sus and U.S. City Directories. Those led to online archives of newspaper articles around the Northwest and to the Clark Fork Valley Press in Plains, Mont., the town where Ava is buried. A phone call to a church in another Western Montana town led to four people who were associated with the Hot Springs, Mont., church that Ava led. Online sources also led to Laura (Bodkin) McDonald, Ava's niece and closest living relative at the time of [ more STORY page 7 www.TUKWILAREPORTER.com » OCTOBER 2014 7 'She never said an unkind thing about anyone.' [ AVA from page 6] Four Hot Springs residents who knew her through the church — Phyllis Dre- sen, Goldie Blixt and Hugh and Virginia Butler — recently shared their memories of Mrs. Bainter, as she preferred to be known. Exacting in everything she did, she always had all of the books in her book- case lined up with the spines at the edge of the shelf. She even swept her lawn in- stead of raking it after mowing. Everyone in town at the time remem- bered her 1936 Chevrolet coupe, which was kept in tip-top condition, always washed, polished and in good running order. Living frugally, the petite woman split her own firewood much of the time and stored it in a storage room that formed one level of the stair -stepped building where she lived and held Sunday ser- vices. Her terraced garden on the hill- side lot annually produced green beans, carrots and flowers, such as the crocuses that were the first sign of spring color in town. Most of all, however, she was remem- bered for her compassion and kindness. "She never said an unkind thing about anyone;" recalled Mrs. Dresen. Once, although she owned only three house dresses, she gave one to charity. Members of the Adams family main- tained contact with each other and with Riverton. Summertime visits were regu- lar. The connection with Foster was not lost either. Both of Ava's younger sisters, Beulah and Bernice, graduated from Foster. Beulah taught at Foster briefly, and Bernice worked in the school caf- eteria while her daughter, Laura (Bod- Phyllis Dresen on her friend, Ava (Adams) Bainter Ave Bainter kept her 1936 Chevrolet coupe in tip-top condition. Ava stands with her brother John in 1924. Family photos Foster Homecoming oster High School will have a busy week of Homecoming activities star ing Oct. 27, culminating with the big football game Oct. 31 against Ever green High School. The theme of this year's Homeco ing is "Mission Impossible" Foster's Centennial will have a place in the celebrations throughout the week. The week's activities are open t he public: Oct. 27, 1:30-2:30 p.m., cultural a embly • Oct. 28, 2-2:30 p.m., lipsync sembly • Oct. 29, 2-2:30, theme assembly • Oct. 30, 1:30-2:30 p.m., Homecom- ing assembly • Oct. 31, 7 p.m., Homecomin game • Nov. 1, 8 -11 p.m., Homecoming dance. NI kin) McDonald, completed her studies at Foster and graduated in 1958. Ava's parents, as well as other Adams family members, are buried at River- ton Crest Cemetery. But Ava stayed in Hot Springs, con- tinuing to show her compassion to those around her, regardless of their church affiliation. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the Rocky Mountain District of the Nazarene Church in 1978. One day in the nursing home where she lived her last months, she asked someone from the staff to fix her long hair the way she always insisted that it be fixed, according to Goldie Blixt. Ex- plaining her request, Ava commented "They're coming to get me tomorrow:' The next morning, Nov. 24, 1988, a staff member did as requested. Later that day, Ava died at age 94. She is buried beside her husband in the Plains, Mont., cemetery. Ed Ziolkowski, right, stands with Hugh Butler, who was a friend of Ava Bainter's in Montana. Ron Lamb [STORY from page 6] her death. Laura, a Foster grad now living in Okla- homa, was executor of Ava's estate and was tasked with clearing out her Montana house. Among the items Laura inherited were photos and docu- ments, among them — miraculously — Ava's Foster diploma, which Laura had copied and sent for use with these articles. Ron, accompanied by Foster classmate Ed Zi- olkowski as photographer, went to Montana and interviewed the four who knew Ava, as well as conducting other research there. Timing was key to locating Laura. On the very evening before Ron and Ed left for Montana, Mark Wahlstrom stopped by Ron's house to drop off a few items. As the conversation turned to Mark's late foster mother, Betty Gully, and the old Foster Community Club, Ron men- tioned that he had a box of items from the com- munity club. Mark asked to see what was in the box. There, they found a Foster yearbook from the year Betty graduated. Mark asked to borrow it. An hour later, Mark phoned Ron to say that Ava's niece, Laura, was also pictured in the yearbook. That phone call led to Laura's treasure trove of photos, papers and the diploma. Swim, Water Walk or donate to participate! Happy 41st Birthday Tukwila Pool lgfyr wirey OCfob er Lap-A-7hon4��p.� i Help us celebrate 41 years of swimming in Tukwila by participating in our Birthday Lap-A-Thon! All Proceeds benefit the Tukwila Pool Scholarship fund and help keep local kids safe and healthy. 206-267-2350 I www.tukwilapool.org I poolinfo@tukwilawa.gov I Find us on Facebook! 14414 S. 144t" St. Tukwila, WA 98168 Superintendent L.IVi. Dimmitt stands on the steps of Tukwila School, now the Tukwila Heritage and Cu I to ra I Center. Tukwila Historical Society Dimmitt, Ava made history BY PAT BRODIN TUKWILA HISTORICAL SOCIETY This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first diploma presented to Ava Sophia Adams by Foster School Superintendent L.M. Dimmitt. Born July 5,1884, in Jackson County, Mo., Lor- ris Myrvin Dimmitt was destined as a respected educator. He built a home in the Lower Foster area of Tukwila and with wife Emma raised five children. Dimmitt recalls the days when he first arrived; the area was so remote and rural that many students rode horses to school, staking them in nearby pastures. Dur- ing the first few years there were no phones, so Dimmitt walked to Riverton, Foster and Thorn - dyke to talk to teachers. He went on to work in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction but maintained his home in Tukwila On Saturday, March 21, Fos- ter High School will celebrate its Centennial. The program will include a re-enactment featuring a presentation of the first diploma I will be dressed as L.M. Dimmitt and hand the diploma to Ava, who will be portrayed by Foster graduate Olivia Thompson. Doing a portrayal of historical digni- taries has become a side job forme and something that I started in 2008 with the City of Tukwila's Centennial Year. It turned out to be agreat way to build interest and excitement for history by mak- ing it living and real to kids of all ages. Histori- cal portrayal is much more than just acting. It re- quires research and practice. It involves gaining a depth of understanding, not just from all available biographical text but reading what they wrote and trying to grasp how they might have talked. This becomes a challenge for legendary folks who lived in the days before there was recorded audio and video. Needless to say, it will be an honor to play the part of Foster Superintendent, L.M. Dimmitt, who served the district from 1913 to 1922. Pat Brodin is a member of the Tukwila Historical Society. The society operates the Tukwila Heritage and Cultural Center, 14475 59th Ave. S. The center can be reached by phone at 206-244-HIST or via email at tukwilaheritagectr@tukwilahistory.org. Ava Adams