| The Gems of Payette author-Dee Clenck page 70-71 Inez Sanger Driscoll was graduated from PHS in 1918 and attended the University of Idaho, majoring in Music and English. She studied Latin, German, French and received instruction in Italian from Dr. De Medici of Italy. Her first job offer was teaching pupils who were not only blind but deaf and mute as well, at the Idaho State School in Gooding. This was a great challenge for a young woman, who had no idea on how to proceed; however, the students were patient with her and by the time she went on to her next assignment, she was well educated in the world of silence and darkness. She found out that teaching those, who cannot hear, the subject of Music, could be fruitful, if they touched the piano and felt the vibrations. That school also had a basketball team composed of all deaf/mute boys who were a Championship Team, for that area. They played any and all neighboring school teams who were not handicapped and beat most of them. Ms. Sanger never missed one of their games and the boys kept a special seat reserved for her. Many years later on a Seattle streetcar, she glanced across the aisle and was astonished to see one of her former blind pupils. �Aren�t you Charles Collins?� Without a moments hesitation, he replied, �How are you Ms. Sanger?� He had remembered her voice after all those years. Charles had been giving concerts in the Northwest, traveling by himself, completely self assured. This was the same young man, who upon leaving school in Gooding, went to the University of Idaho. While there he became a Fraternity brother of Perry Kail of Payette and Perry tells this story; �One evening, he returned to the Fraternity house and heard some noises coming from the Music room. The room was pitch black so he flipped on the light, and on the floor with keys and pieces of the piano surrounding him sat Charles. �What are you doing in the dark, Collins?� To which the boy replied, �Is it dark, Perry: I wasn�t aware of it� Ms. Sanger taught numerous ethnic groups, an all Italian, Black, Chinese, and Jewish classes as well, while in Seattle. She tells a very humorous story on herself. I seems that is was necessary to travel early mornings to school from her residence in the University District. It was usually dark and upon alighting from the streetcar she had to walk three blocks through a derelict sections. In 1936, jobs were scarce and many men were out of work, and were not beneath asking for handouts. Terribly frightened to be out alone, she devised a plan in the event, she was accosted for money. Her idea was never put to the test but she was prepared just incase. She was going to say �You get on the other side of the street, I�m working this side.� Let your imagination picture a slight 5� 1� young lady, saying to a husky six footer, who perhaps hadn�t had a bath in six months, that statement. The most famous student she ever taught was Jimmie Rodgers, the singer and musician of national fame. He will be remembered for his fine rendition of �Honeycomb�. He had made several trips to Payette just to see her and has stated on many occasions that she was the greatest influence in his school years. Most of her teaching skills were directed toward musicals, black face ministrels, pageants and art. When she finally returned to Payette to teach, the University of Idaho hired her to teach adult classes, evenings for six years. She is very emphatic when she states she has never had a bad boy or girl in her classes. Some she had to twist their ear once in awhile but the students were looking for guidance and she gave it to them. Teachers didn�t have to shout or abuse because they had the support of the administration and the parents. For the proof, just look at the records of Payette graduates. They have entered all walks of life and left marks of great accomplishments and to this day they still return to the town of their heritage to reminisce with their teachers of the past. This is just to show their appreciation for the good foundation they were privileged to build upon. |
| As the transcriber of this story, I would also like to include a personal note. In October of 2001, my husband heard of a large older house for rent in Payette. With two children and another on the way, we were very interested in a bigger house. We are also both interested in older homes, as they have so much character. As it turned out, the house was built by the father of Inez Driscoll, in 1904, and it is where she lived until her death in 1992. Never having had children, the house was willed to a family friend and then sold in 1993. When those owners moved, they put the house for sale and eventually rented it to my husband and myself. We instantly fell in love with the house. It has a wonderful spirit. There were many rough spots in the house, but underneath all the paint, there was beautiful old wood, which I began attempting to restore. During our time there, we were also in possession of a golden skeleton key that had 'Inez' engraved on tip. Our next door neighbors, the Watermans, knew Inez very well, as they have lived next door for 40 years. They told us many stories about her and what a wonderful person she was, and how she kept her home and yard immaculate. From the first day we moved in, I discovered that many of my friends were either taught English or piano by Mrs. Driscoll. When we tried to explain to people where we lived, they just simply refered to it as the 'Driscoll House'. Almost everyone has a story about her and most of them good. Although, there have been a few people admit that she chased them off her lawn with a broom, an idea that appealed to me as well when I lived there! Unfortunately, my husband and I were not able to buy the home, and recently had to move, but we will always treasure the time we spent there. |