Paddy Hough was even greener than we thought.
Paddy, of course, was the Irish-born schoolmaster who was a prominent Vancouver educator more than a century ago.
As we reported last week, his birthday provides the opportunity for students at Hough Elementary (and other members of the neighborhood) to go all Emerald Isle every March.
The fact that Paddy was born on March 17 — St. Patrick’s Day — could have something to do with the color scheme.
But Paddy Hough’s green influence involves more than paper shamrocks. His legacy covers two updated aspects of “green” — agricultural and environmental.
Hough is the person behind the Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education. While it’s run by Battle Ground Public Schools, the program was established through the estate of the Vancouver educator.
After Hough’s death in 1924, his will said that his estate would support his wife until her death. Then, almost all his property — estimated at from $50,000 to $100,000 — was to “be used in establishing an agricultural high school in Clarke county.”
The will stated that “he had long lived frugally with this idea in mind,” The Columbian reported on Dec. 24, 1925.
“He had denied himself continually for years, according to those who knew him intimately, in the hope that his meager fortune would be sufficient for this purpose,” the story added.
Hough’s money came with some suggestions: Students of both sexes past the sixth grade and over the age of 12 were to be admitted without cost, except for board and similar expenses. Religion, political party or nationality were not to be factors in selecting students or teachers.
And, “the name of his native village, Slevoire, is suggested as a name for the school,” we reported.
That never happened. But, hopefully, Paddy can agree that the nickname for the Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education sounds pretty darned Irish.
Everybody calls it the CASEE center.
Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back from our newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in the story or just tell a story.
