Sielaff remembers life in Ritzville

RITZVILLE – Marilyn Sielaff, a lifelong Ritzville resident at age 70, has been observing this rural community for decades.

"I grew up on a wheat-and-cattle ranch about 12 miles southeast of Ritzville. I went all through my school years here," she said.

Sielaff graduated with the Ritzville High School class of 1970, one of the school's largest classes with about 60 graduates. After high school she married and had four children: Michelle, who lives with her husband Bob in Otis Orchards; Kim, who's married to Scott Yaeger, Adams County engineer; Melissa, who lives in Colville with her husband Jeremiah; and son Adam Miller, who lives with his wife Angela in Ritzville.

At age 29, Sielaff attended Kinman Business University in Spokane and studied to become a paralegal. After finishing her courses, she moved to the Tri-Cities where she worked in the superior court.

"But my kids hated it there," she said, "so I moved back to Ritzville."

On her return she took jobs with the title company and assessor's office in Ritzville, then moved to Ellensburg for a few years to work for an attorney doing real estate closings.

Ritzville continued to beckon.

So Sielaff spent the next 22 years working here at the Adams County Noxious Weed Control Board before retiring four years ago.

Since her high school days in the late 1960s, Sielaff has witnessed a significant decline in Ritzville's culture, business environment, and overall sense of community.

Church attendance is lower. "(Back then) one night of the week was reserved for church... for confirmation, catechism, whatever. There were no sports at all that night," she said. "Churches were full on Sundays."

Crime is more worrisome. "Kids in high school had rifles and shotguns in their back window rifle racks. Vehicle doors weren't locked the whole time kids were in school, and nobody ever bothered (the guns)," she recalled.

Kids and families spend less time together. "Saturday nights the kids would drive up and down streets all over town. We'd stop in parking lots and visit. Gas was 25 cents a gallon. Saturday or Friday nights were dances at the grange hall. We used to roller skate at the tennis courts one night a week. There'd be music...it was just a blast," she said.

Child labor laws are stricter. "When I was 14, I was driving big harvest trucks to town on agriculture permits," she said.

Dress is less formal. "Throughout my school years, girls had to wear skirts to school ...we took pride in how we looked," she said.

Businesses are struggling. "Downtown...all the stores were full and busy," she observed.

Not so today.

If Sielaff could improve the town's prospects going forward, what would she do?

"If I won the lottery, I would buy some of the stores, get them fixed up, and help people who want to start a business," she said.

Sielaff's descriptions of her earlier life in Ritzville remind us of a simpler and-in many ways-more prosperous time.