[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 14, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4177-S4178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF LOUISE SHADDUCK

 Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, on May 4, Idaho lost a pioneer and 
one of her strongest champions. The legacy of Louise Shadduck will live 
in the hearts of many Idahoans, particularly for Idaho women now 
involved in politics or journalism. She blazed trails and inspired 
action and involvement in the governance of and commentary on our 
society.
  Louise lived an incredible and full life, working as a journalist in 
the 1930s and 1940s and then shifting to politics where she served on 
the staffs of historical figures such as Governors Len Jordan and 
Charles Robins, Senator Henry Dworshak and U.S. Representative Orval 
Hansen. She was a staunch supporter of Idaho Republicans over the 
years, but did so with discernment, always making sure to remind those 
in office in her own way that it was Idahoans who they served, not 
themselves.
  Louise enjoyed people, and they enjoyed her in return. In high school 
in

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Coeur d'Alene in the early 1930s, Louise wrote an article for a 
journalism contest to win a trip to Alaska. According to an old friend, 
the entire school got together and voted for her article; she won the 
trip. Louise was a hard worker. Also in high school, Louise and her six 
brothers took turns driving the Shadduck family dairy milk truck on its 
route in the mornings before school started. Some afternoons, Louise 
would invite her friends to pile on to the empty milk crates on the bed 
of the truck to go to Spokane to catch a movie. She was a pioneer in 
women's rights, serving as Idaho State Secretary of Commerce and 
Development in 1958 the first woman in the country in that position. 
Louise also ran unsuccessfully against Gracie Pfost for Congress in 
1956. It was an historic campaign, not only because it was the first 
time two Idaho women ran against each other in a general election for a 
national legislative office, but Pfost, the Democrat incumbent, was the 
first woman to represent Idaho in Congress.
  Louise served as executive director of the Idaho Forest Industry 
Council and received an honorary law degree from the University of 
Idaho in 1969. She was president of Idaho Press Women in 1966 and was 
president of the National Federation of Press Women from 1971 to 1973. 
Louise was an avid consumer of history, news and the world, traveling 
often and writing. She authored four books about Idaho and was working 
on a fifth when she became ill. Her mind was always sharp, as was her 
wit. People could count on her to be honest, forthright and inclusive, 
even of strangers. Many felt as if they had a second mom in Louise. She 
was a lover of knowledge and history, arranging family trips to show 
younger generations where their Shadduck pioneer roots lay. She 
remembered your name after the first introduction. People were vitally 
important to Louise, and her thirst for knowledge made her the go-to 
person for many people when they were researching information about 
Idaho. She was artistically gifted, and was known for her impromptu 
illustrations, sometimes hastily sketched in the front of a copy of one 
of her books and given to a friend.
  Much of Idaho is rural. Louise internalized the importance of small-
town life and the intrinsic value of people. In a small-town, you get 
to know just about everyone. You learn to appreciate the fact that 
people are much more than just faces in a crowd. In today's hurried, 
populated world, Louise reminded many of us what was truly important--
morals, faith, mutual respect, honesty, individuality, and 
trustworthiness. Louise once told a reporter that people who leave this 
world without writing their story down means that we have lost a story. 
While Louise wrote many stories, we have lost an epic with her passing.
  I offer my condolences to Louise's family and friends at this sad 
time.

                          ____________________