Bell Tower outside Library entrance

Hagen Plaque

When Elaine (nickname: Pidg) was 7 years old (in the late 40s) her family including an older brother (Buz) and sister (Pat) moved to the house on Oleson Road next to Hunt Club Lane in Garden Home. Her father wanted to make sure his three children had a good education. They lived in Eastmoreland and he was concerned because the Portland Public Schools taught reading by sight. He knew the Beaverton School District taught phonetics, so the family moved to Garden Home. They also wanted enough property so they could raise horses. Several years later, her maternal grandparents moved from North Dakota and purchased the house next door. The family moved from Garden Home in 1958.

Her paternal grandfather came from Norway. His mother had come from Ireland and they lived on Club Meadow Lane off Beaverton Hillsdale Highway. Pidg can remember sitting on her grandfather’s knee and he would sing Norwegian songs to her.

Her father, Herb Hagen, was an electrical contractor. Mr. Hagen was chairman of the Rural school board which included Garden Home School in 1950. His name is on the plaque located outside the library entrance to the Garden Home Rec Center.

Pidg’s mother Laura Mae enjoyed gardening and during summers would go to Whitney’s Custom Cannery to can produce for the winter. They grew rhubarb and had many varieties of fruit trees,  cherry, apple, pear, peach etc. Figs grew near their back porch and when they ripened and fell to the ground, it was Pidg’s job to pick up the fruit. If left to rot, they attracted yellow jackets which she didn’t like.

Pidg attended Garden Home Grade School from 1st grade until graduating from the 8th grade, then went to Beaverton High School. She graduated with the class of 1957. Several dozen of her classmates continue to meet 3 to 4 times a year including Ross Fogelquist.

As a child and continuing into adulthood, Pidg was very athletic and interested to compete in swimming, equestrian, tennis, and track, to name a few. The area churches got together and formed softball teams with boys and girls playing on the same team. Three girls were required to field a team and Pidg was a pitcher. The girls were pretty good which didn’t make the boys very happy.

Pidg was a high school swimmer, learning to swim at the Aero Club. In high school, she had to travel to southeast Portland in the early mornings to practice swimming before her first class as there were no pools in the Beaverton area.

Pidg learned to ice skate on the pond on the Gertsch’s property (later becoming the Arranmore development). She wanted to be a professional skater.

The Hagens had Arabian horses which they showed at various Arabian horse shows around the state. Elaine learned to ride at the Portland Hunt Club. In the spring, every June, the Spring Meet was held at the Hunt Club which was a well-known social event that brought people from all over the city. Harry Zell (Zell Brothers Jewelry) was always one of the participants with his horse Johnny Harvester. The Meet included a steeplechase which took place on the Gertsch’s hill.

Memories of Garden Home childhood:

• Memories of other neighbors – The Bernards lived across the street (he was an attorney); the Cronins; the Dignans; the Sheas; Shirley Gertsch went to school with Pidg
• Dierdorf helped my mother with her garden
• We would sneak into the Aaron Frank’s pool to swim
• Riding her bike to visit friends in Garden Home
• Climbing the cherry trees to eat the cherries

[Interview by Marie Pacella and Patsy Vandeventer, October 2024.]