Move to Longview

By the time I was born the Kavanaughs had lived in our family home for about six years. Both my brother Michael (who died near childbirth) and my sister Beverly were born previous to my arrival, and there were three older brothers who were ten, thirteen and seventeen years old when I popped onto the scene.

You might well ask how the Kavanaugh clan landed in Longview in the first place. Although the story is somewhat convoluted, suffice it to say I’m skipping most of the tale and giving you a cursory look at look at what happened before they became Washingtonians. Mother was raised in Medford, Oregon, and Daddy was originally from North Dakota, but through a whole lot of unusual events they both ended up widowed and living in Medford. Mother had one son, Bobby (about 4 years old), and Daddy had two sons with him, Arlen (about 11 years old) and Larry (about 7 years old). While in Medford they decided to marry, and Daddy packed up his new family and moved to Portland where they tied the knot. He worked in the shipyards and learned the welding trade that he coupled with his car mechanic skills that he had developed in North Dakota. They were living in an apartment that was much too small for them, and Dad was working at Fred Schwary Chevrolet as a mechanic. This was situation was not conducive to a long, happy marriage however.

Pete and Betty Kavanaugh Wedding

May 17, 1942

One day they decided to drive to Cathlamet, Washington to visit with friends (I suspect any excuse to get out of the cramped living quarters was welcome). The three boys rode in the back seat and the adults were in the front. Clearly even the short drives for enjoyment were catastrophically cramped. During the trip Mom and Dad were discussing their living situation when Mother said, “You could get a job in any one of these little towns. You have experience and you’re good at what you do. See, there’s a car dealership. You might be able to get a job there,” (they happen to be driving through Longview at the time). So Daddy thought he’d call her bluff and pulled the car over, got out and went in and asked for a job. When he came back out to the car he said, “OK, so I got a job, now what are we going to do about getting a house?” This was during World War II and the housing situation was difficult everywhere in the U.S. But, as luck would have it, they happened to meet someone who knew someone and they were able to find a house that needed a family on the very same day that Daddy found a job. It seemed like it was meant to be a job and a house and a nice enough little town.

They did end up visiting the relatives in Cathlamet with the news that they would soon be closer neighbors. This was the start of a continued migration from North Dakota to Longview and other Pacific Northwest sites. By the time I was growing up it was not unusual for someone from North Dakota to be knocking on our door wanting to talk to Dad about old times on the farm, and where all of the Diaspora from the old sod were now located.