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exceptional women
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
By ANNE ENDICOTT
Pamplin Media Group
F
ew things in life feed the soul more
than good coffee and a homemade
pastry in a cozy chair at a favorite
homey haunt.
But why would someone with admittedly
no “palette” for coffee choose a bakery and
java house when opening her own busi-
ness?
“I love watching people enjoy them-
selves,” said Cindy Wich, owner of Banaka
and Browns Artisan Bakery in downtown
Gresham. “Life is full of so many sad mo-
ments and stress. I think people want a
place where they can leave their worries
behind for even a little while.
“I love it when people who don’t even
know each other come in and start talking.
That’s what it’s all about for me.”
The owner of one of Gresham’s best loved
coffee houses was nominated as an Excep-
tional Woman by her husband, Phil. He re-
fers to his wife as “the strongest, most de-
termined, most loving and unselfish person
I know,” for her ability to shed adversity
early in life and never waver from her
dreams. She’s a role model, Phil wrote,
among those close to her for placing a high-
er priority on the needs of others over her-
self.
Wich is a gentle soul, with a contagious
and ever-ready smile. She greets each per-
son who graces the front door of the histor-
ic building on Main Avenue with the same
warmth and comfort as the scent of the cof-
fee house’s signature pastries. Customers
aren’t meant to be “shuffled out the door”
after they order, she said. Banaka and
Browns, a la Wich-style, is an oasis to sit
back, relax and forget about life for a while.
A native Oregonian who grew up in Park-
dale, Wich was diagnosed with lupus at age
16. Fatigue, a tell-tale “butterfly” facial rash
and other debilitating symptoms of the au-
toimmune disease rendered the teenager
unable to attend school or take part in her
regular activities. The diagnosis thrust
Wich and her family into mostly uncharted
medical territory.
“Back then, they didn’t know anything
about (lupus),” she said. “Little did I know
they told my mom I had about a year to
live.”
Wich earned her GED while living in
Cascade Locks with her mother. After mov-
ing to Portland, she was a youngster in an
adult world, as a 17-year-old administering
federal contracts with the Army Corps of
Engineers.
“I was there when Mount
St. Helens blew,” Wich said.
“I wrote the contracts for
bidding on repairs for ev-
erything from rebuilding
the bridges to dredging the
rivers. Being young at the
time, it didn’t seem like a
big deal. But now, I look
back on it and think, ‘That
was pretty cool.’”
Wich married her teen-
age sweetheart, Phil, in Ju-
ly 1982 in Madras, where
she also gave birth to
daughters Chelsea and Sar-
ah. The family eventually
moved to Gresham, and
Wich went to work for
Clackamas-based commer-
cial printer Craftsman. For
14 years, she managed the
company’s manufacturing
house. The all-consuming
job took a toll not only on
her personal life but her
health as well. She left in
2008, took the time to get
herself healthy and decided
to make a career change.
“I always wanted a place of my own,”
Wich said. “I knew I wanted to be in a place
where people were happy, and people are
always happy in a bakery with coffee. But I
also wanted some place where the commu-
nity could come in and call home.”
Instead of dwelling on the obstacles she
has faced, and continues to face with her
illness, Wich is constantly seeking ways to
make things easier for those around her,
Phil said. Following the coffee house’s
opening in October 2011, Wich had a hard
time getting customers to understand the
business didn’t accept tips. When they per-
sisted in “throwing money” at the owner
and her staff, Wich collected the cash and
donated it to a charitable children’s pro-
gram called Backpack Buddies.
From family and friends to customers,
Phil said, unburdening others is part of her
DNA.
“She always puts everyone else first,” he
said. “She helps at our church and with
both our granddaughters. She frequently
provides the use of her coffee house at no
charge to civic and business organizations,
moms groups and anyone that needs a qui-
et place to meet. She may not be a civic
leader, but many in the community depend
upon her on a daily basis.”
Back in the early days of her marriage,
while living in Prineville, Wich wrote a po-
em for a local radio station’s Valentine’s
Day contest, describing the love of her life.
She remembers well her success in surpris-
ing Phil when her poem was read on air, as
well as the station’s presentation of spon-
sor gifts that evening at a volunteer fire de-
partment dinner they attended.
Calling attention to his “exceptional
wife” through the newspaper, Phil said, is
payback.
“Nothing is ever about her,” he said.
“This is a thank you from me to her. I
thought she would be a little upset when
she found out I’d written a letter about her,
but I’ll never catch up with all the wonder-
ful things she’s done for me, our family and
our friends.”
835 North Main Avenue
Gresham, OR 97030
503.492.6100
Located in a beautiful 110 year-old
house in historic downtown Gresham
EXCEPTIONAL
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Tuesday - Friday 7am-5pm
|
Saturdays 8am-2pm
417756 EW0413
Adversity is not a life sentence
■
Debilitating medical condition doesn’t hinder local business owner with a big heart
PHOTO BY JIM CLARK
An admitted non-java junkie, Wich calls coffee
houses “happy places” where folks find solace
from everyday life.
“Life is full
of so many
sad
moments
and stress.
I think
people
want a
place where
they can
leave their
worries
behind for
even a little
while.”
— Cindy Wich,
owner of Banaka
and Browns
Artisan Bakery
and Coffee House.