Making sacrifices for the betterment of the community

In the March 10, 2016 edition of the Ritzville Journal, Mayor Gary Cook commented on “the commitment and sacrifices of those who made Ritzville the unique community it is.”

My great-grandfather Henry Koch Jr. was one of those pioneers who worked to create this community.

Henry immigrated with his family to eastern Washington in 1892 at age seven. Learning to read and write English was a priority for a child who at that point only spoke German. He was no different than any of his neighbors who recognized the value of education to their success in their new country.

Together they built homes, farms, store buildings, churches and schools. Henry and his family hosted the schoolteacher as the one room school house was located a quarter mile from their home. Henry passed on the value of an education to his children – when they had completed eighth grade in that one room schoolhouse, they rode their horse eight miles one way every day to attend Ritzville High School.

Those values of education have carried through the years with now four generations of my family graduating from Ritzville High School and now, Lind-Ritzville High School. The old Germans may have grumbled a bit about money, but they supported their community and dug deep to maintain their schools, churches and medical facilities. They knew that their children were the future and they wanted what was best for them.

Without the foresight of our founders, this community wouldn’t exist today. Yes, we are smaller and are struggling to thrive but just as my great-grandfather did a century ago, we need to recognize the potential and invest in our community. Schools are a major part of any community and a large investment but without a quality education, no one will thrive.

Over time all the small one room schoolhouses across the county merged into Ritzville and Lind school districts and taxpayers built modern facilities to house and educate those children. How sad would our grandfathers be to see that we haven’t invested in our children’s education by providing them with adequate facilities that contribute to the overall well-being of all of our children? Please honor what previous generations worked for and valued for our community and vote yes on the bond to support Ritzville School District.

Donna Koch, Ritzville