Dorne and Dorothy Hall are 2017 Pioneers of the Year

WAITSBURG – This year's Fall Festival Pioneers of the Year most certainly meet the definition of pioneers. Dorne and Dorothy Hall, have ties to the area dating back to the early 1800s, earlier even than Marcus and Narcissa Whitman.

Dorothy's family, the Dauphins, settled in the area in 1835 and Mathew Dauphin was a signer of the early Indian treaties at Frenchtown, according to Dorothy, who is active in the Frenchtown Historical Foundation.

Dorothy's great grandfather, on her mother's side, Marcel Gagnon Sr. was born in Canada but received his U.S. citizenship in New York. He then sailed around the horn of South America to San Francisco where he tried his hand in the gold fields of California. He later came north to Frenchtown in 1850 and married Rosalee Dauphin. He lived in the Walla Walla area the rest of his life where many members of the Gagnon family still remain. Marcel and Rosalee had a son, Marcel Gagnon Jr. who married Louisa Remilard and settled in Waitsburg in the early 1890's.

Dorothy's grandparents on her mother's side were early settlers in Prescott in 1888. W.R. (Bill) Reid came from Iowa and the Koontz family immigrated from Missouri, both via train. Bill married Nona Koontz in 1904, and spent the rest of his life farming. The couple had five children with Eunice, Dorothy's mother, being the eldest.

Eunice spent the entire 95 years of her life in the Waitsburg-Prescott area. She married Phillip Gagnon and the couple had five children, with Dorothy being number five. After the death of her Phillip, in 1944, Eunice married Carl Peck. The couple had one son, Carl Jr. (Butch).

Dorne's family ties are with the Corkrums and the Kennedys, who were early farmers in the Walla Walla Valley. Both families made the grueling three-and-a-half month trip west by wagon train. The Corkrums stayed in the Walla Walla Valley and the Kennedy's moved to farm near Davenport, Wash.

Francis Corkrum, Dorne's great-grandfather, settled in to farm northeast of Walla Walla. In time, his son, William Corkrum also farmed north of Walla Walla. William married Martha Alice Kennedy and the couple had a large family of six sons and five daughters.

As many fathers, William wanted to buy land for his sons and, with cheap land available in Canada, he sold his land here and moved to Canada, west of Calgary. Unfortunately, none of his children wanted to farm and the entire family moved back to the U.S., except for Dorne's mother, Lillian Corcrum.

Lillian married Stan Hall and lived on a farm west of Calgary. The couple had a large family of nine children with Dorne being number four. In 1937 Stan passed away, leaving Lillian to care for a large family, alone. She sold the farm and moved with her nine children to Union Gap, Wash. to be near family and schools for the children.

In the summer of 1938 the Dorne came to Waitsburg to help Dorne's aunt and uncle, Frank and Lula Zuger, who farmed land along Whoopemup Hollow, during harvest. After harvest the Zuger's asked if Dorne could live with them and help out on the farm while attending school in Waitsburg.

Dorne played football in high school and said he "only got in trouble once." When students came out the front doors of the high school they would jump from the three front steps and hit the swinging doors. Dorne, a freshman, thought it would be funny to use his foot to hold the door closed, but some upperclassmen quickly set him straight.

"Harvey Estes and Virgil Bode took me around the corner and paddled my pants to set me straight," he said, laughing. "And I never told my aunt and uncle about it.

He graduated from Waitsburg in 1943 and joined the navy. He said he and Dick Roberts went to enlist in Walla Walla and were sent to Spokane.

"It was December 31 and Dick had a little coupe car. We went to Spokane and signed up and drove like mad to get back to Waitsburg so we could go to the New Year's Eve dance!" Dorne said.

Dorne was stationed on a small aircraft carrier in the South Pacific until the end of World War II. He recalls one close call where "things got scary" when a Japanese suicide plane was coming down on their carrier and was shot down just before it hit them.

"Another time we sat in Pearl Harbor with planes loaded for the islands. We were supposed to have an escort that never showed so we made the entire trip by ourselves with no escort and no cover," he said

Dorne made it home to Waitsburg in December of 1945 and helped his Uncle Frank with field work until he enrolled in the Perry Trade School in Yakima to learn to be a machinist.

Dorothy grew up on the family farm north of Waitsburg and was the baby of five Gagnon children. She attended the small country school in McKay, with a half-dozen students in grades 1-12 for several years, them came to Waitsburg in fifth grade.

"Oh how big that two-story schoolhouse looked after my two room school!" she said.

Dorothy enjoyed high school dances and social life and she and Dorne, who had traveled in the same social circles for years, became engaged before he left for the service. Dorothy graduated with the Class of 1950 and attended dental assistant school in Portland before moving to Yakima.

In 1950 she and Dorne were married and lived in Yakima while Dorne finished his schooling. Daughter Terry (Ferguson) joined the family in September of 1952. In 1953 Dorne graduated and the family returned to Waitsburg to help on the Zuger farm. Daughter Sharon (Richter) was born in December of 1953.

In 1956, the family moved to Seattle where Dorne took a job with Boeing Company, where he worked for the next 34 years. Dorne enjoyed his time with Boeing, which he said was a great company to work for.

Dorothy enjoyed her time as a stay-at-home mom, playing taxi driver for the girls. She was a Camp Fire leader for eleven years, trained campfire leaders, and helped out at the school during those busy years. When the girls entered high school, Dorothy worked outside the home at different jobs.

Dorne and Dorothy spent many week-ends fishing for salmon at Sekiu on the Strait of Juan DeFuca, looking at Vancouver Island.

"It was always a rush to catch the Seattle ferry Friday after work and drive 170 miles to Sekiu to get the boat ready to go out at 5 a.m. Saturday morning to catch a fish or two. In later years, I learened that I caught just as many fish at 9:00!" Dorothy said.

In 1990 Dorne retired from Boeing and the couple moved to Walla Walla to be near family. Their daughters, who came to Waitsburg in the summers to visit Grandma Eunice, had both met and married local men. Terry married Rick Ferguson and lives in Waitsburg, while Sharon married John Richter and lives in Dayton.

Dorne and Dorthy traveled Canada and the western states in their fifth wheel. In 1997 they took a two-and-a-half month trip across Canada, as far as Newfoundland, and back home through the northern states.

Dorne keeps busy with the Waitsburg American Legion where he has been a member for 72 years. He has helped with many projects and is active in St. Mark's Church. He also enjoys spending time in their large garden.

Dorne recalls spending many, many hours breaking up the cement-like ground, and adding bale after bale of peat moss and fertilizer to reclaim the circular gardens in front of the Bruce House museum.

"It's so nice to see that they have been kept up and people are now able to plant things and they will grow," he said.

Dorothy is involved with the Frenchtown Historical Foundation, Daughters of the Pioneers, St. Mark's Church Alter Society, the American Legion Auxiliary and the Waitsburg Historical Society.

The couple said they were very surprised and honored to be chosen Pioneers of the Year.

"At times it feels like since we are out of town, people have no clue who we are," Dorothy said.

The couple is looking forward to celebrating the honor at Sunday's ceremony at the Pioneer Fall Festival where they will be joined by friends and family.