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exceptional women
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
“He was a very conservative but very reli-
gious and compassionate man,” Fagan said.
“Even though we hardly had money, if there
was someone more down on their luck than
we were, he’d be giving money away. Or
there would be times he invited a homeless
person to Thanksgiving even though we
could hardly put dinner on our own table.”
As a three-sport athlete — soccer, basket-
ball and track — in high school, Fagan was
cheered on by her fa-
ther, whom she teased
for wearing a collec-
tion of buttons in her
honor.
There was nothing
he loved more than to
see his kids succeed,
and Fagan joked that
when she ran for of-
fice, even if it was for
the Green Party, her
dad would cover his
hat in her buttons
and cover his lawn in
her signs.
When Fagan ran
for the David Douglas
School Board in 2011
and House District 51
in 2012, she brought a
button, bouquet of flowers and lawn sign to
her dad’s grave in Willamette National
Cemetery, taking a picture of the lawn sign
before bringing it back with her.
By keeping her last name, Fagan honors
her father’s influence. John Fagan Sr. was a
big believer in public service who dreamed
of a political career, but didn’t have the op-
portunity to run for public office until later
in life because he was a single dad.
The two held a tradition of buying each
other books for Christmas that reflected
the other’s perspective. Together, they de-
bated and had heartfelt discussions, no
matter how much they saw issues different-
ly.
Fagan continues the tradition. She picks
up a book her dad would have bought her
and reads it by the end of January.
“No matter how much you disagree with
people, you could probably always learn
something from them,” Fagan said.
Another inspiration for Fagan is her pa-
ternal grandmother, Imogene Fagan, who
beginning in 1942, worked in the shipyards
during World War II.
Because the ship she welded had the few-
est leaks, the U.S. Navy ship bore her name.
A pioneer in her day, Imogene owned a
small business, served as mayor of her ru-
ral Colorado town and stood up for civil
rights, once scolding her son John in front
of a football coach for making a racially in-
sensitive remark.
Women in Fagan’s church took her under
their wings and stepped in to help her shop
for a homecoming dress or attend a moth-
er-daughter tea party.
“I’m really grateful they surrounded me
with love and made me feel like I was not
lacking,” Fagan said.
Oregon public schools are a huge priority
for Fagan, who says they changed her life. At
every door she knocked on last fall, people
expressed their concerns in some way or an-
other about school funding.
“There is a real connection between the fu-
ture Oregon economy and whether or not our
kids are getting ahead,” Fagan said. “The fact
is, we can’t just talk
about finding funding
for our schools —we
have to have a path
there.”
Fagan is also con-
cerned with small
businesses and part of
an effort with the sec-
retary of state’s office
to create an office of
small business admin-
istration.
In the past four
years, Fagan has re-
kindled a relationship
with her mom. As Fa-
gan was graduating
from law school in
2009, her mother re-
covered from an over-
dose. At 4 a.m. one day, she called Fagan, say-
ing “she was finally awake.”
“I grew up in the church and have always
believed in grace and forgiveness,” Fagan
said. “It wasn’t a choice she made, it was a
disease, and it was something that had taken
over her life. I had no animosity toward her
for the years she missed. I just want to make
sure the years she has left she’s able to enjoy
her grandkids.”
Her mom introduced Fagan at her cam-
paign kickoff and said, “I have not always
been there for my kids, but they have always
been there for me.”
Amid her responsibilities as a representa-
tive, volunteer school board member, attor-
ney and mom, Fagan loves to ride her and
Richard’s Harley Davidson Road King.
She and fellow motorcyclist Rep. Greg Mat-
thews, D-Gresham, are scheming a tandem
ride down to Salem together.
Fagan still plays an occasional game of
chess with elementary schoolers and looks
forward to being an advocate to Oregonians
in some form or another for years to come.
“Because I’m young and ran young, people
like to assume I have a 10-year plan of where
I would like to be,” Fagan said. “Honestly, I
don’t know that I can say with certainty. I
love Oregon. I was born and raised here. It is
my home and the only place I want to live for
the rest of my life.
“I hope people say I was honest, regardless
of if they agreed with me, and I hope they say
I was a fighter, even if they were on the other
side of an issue.”
Mother’s Day Brunch
Sunday, May 12th
9:00 AM to 3 PM
$12.99
Omelettes Cooked to Order
Bacon & Sausage Links
Home Fried Red Potatoes
Hashbrowns
Scrambled Eggs
Ham & Cheese Scramble
Fruit & Cream Crepes
Roasted Pork Loin
Stuf ng
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Variety of Sandwiches
Assorted Fruit, Salad,
Desserts & Pastries
Soup & Salad Bar
Giving Out
Flowers
to Mothers
Troutdale’s Best Kept Secret!
Make sure you try out
our fudge & candy counter
Hand Scooped
Ice-Cream
790 NW Frontage Rd.,
Troutdale
Exit 17 off 84
503-666-1588
418053 EW0413
Formerly Buckhorn
Fagan:
Honors her dad by keeping his name
■
From previous page
PHOTOs BY JIM CLARK
On Oregon State Day at the Capitol, Fagan speaks with two pharmacy students, Josh Maclaughlan and
Stephanie Persaud. She joked her dad had raised her to be two things: A Republican and Oregon State
fan. She couldn’t let him be zero for two.
Fagan campaigned for state representative
while she was eight months pregnant with her
son Alton. One man she canvassed told her
people claimed to care about Oregon’s future,
but he’d never seen it carried up his doorsteps
in someone’s belly.