Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

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governor was supposed to arrive at 7 p.m. from SeaTac, if I remember correctly, so about 6 p.m. I took over the two turkeys and put them in the pen along with a sign ‘ Happy Birthday from Lenny and Augie.’ When the governor arrived, he was dead tired. But Nancy and Mrs. Bell appeared as Playboy bunnies. We had one hell of a party, then I announced that Speaker Len Sawyer and Majority Leader Mardesich had arrived to bring greetings. We all went out in the backyard to see Lenny and Augie. Everyone cracked up. The next morning about 5 a.m. my phone rang at home. It was the governor saying, ‘Get those damn turkeys out of my yard!’ They are gobbling like hell out there.’ ” Hughes: With that menagerie at the Governor’s Mansion, the footage of Michelle and Barack Obama and their girls with that new puppy must have put a smile on your face. Evans: We had a puppy except it was never little. Hughes: That’s Peggy the Irish Wolfhound? Evans: That’s Peggy, and she was marvelous; she was a great dog. Hughes: The pictures of that dog are pretty amazing. How did you come by Peggy? Evans: We had a friend who was head of Pacific Northwest Bell here in Seattle. They had just bought a puppy, their second Irish Wolfhound. And then he was sent to New York to the headquarters to be vice-president of AT&T. So he called one day and said, “Would you like a puppy?” And I thought, “Oh, that is a lot to take on with everything else we’ve got.” Hughes: This is early in the going – 1965 or so. Evans: Yes. They lived in Woodway, up in North Seattle. And we went up to their house and there was this puppy. Well, I say “puppy,” but it was never small. They had an end table by one of the sofas and she used to always go under it until suddenly she couldn’t go under it, so she would carry the table with her! (laughing) They showed me a yard stick where they measured 66 Nancy, Dan, and the boys with Peggy, their Irish wolf hound, at the Governor's Mansion in the early 1970s. Evans family album
at her hip. Literally in one week she would grow that much, and eventually she was going to be “this big.” And I thought, “Oh boy, that’s a lot.” But we just fell in love with her. And of course we said, “Sure, we’ll take her.” We did not name her. She was already a Peggy. “Peggy O’Neil of Glochamora,” something like that. She was a pure bred. So we brought Peggy to the Mansion and she became everybody’s friend because she was so friendly. Sometimes too friendly. Her tail would bruise my mother’s leg because it was so big and heavy. When Bruce was a baby, she came running toward him one time and knocked the toddler right over. She would put her paws right on my shoulders and look me in the eye. Hughes: That’s a big dog. Evans: She was a big dog. She was always out on the front porch greeting people. People would say, “How’s Peggy?” And then they’d add, “And how’s your mother? How are the kids?” Yeah, she was a great dog. Hughes: How long did Peggy live? Evans: Twelve years. That’s a long time for a big dog like that. Hughes: Three livewire sons, lots of pets and Grandma “Gom.” What an amazing place the mansion was. For the record, do I understand that in the beginning your mother said, “I’ll stay for only six months”? Is that a true quote? Evans: It’s a true quote. Dan asked her to come live with us during the campaign, but she said, “No, I don’t believe in living with my children.” Finally he said, “OK. Will you come for six months? Get us through the Legislature?” And she said, “Yes. I’ll come for six months but then I’m heading back to Spokane.” She stayed for Christmas because that made sense. Why go home and be alone? And fortunately, there was a wonderful group of older women in Olympia. They just befriended her right away. These were wonderful active women, some widows, some not. They enjoyed each other and had fun together. So she made, in some ways, better friends here than she had in Spokane at that time. Hughes: Talk about Heaven sent. Who were some of those ladies? Evans: Dorothy Donworth was one. Her husband Charles was a Supreme Court justice. Another was Miggs, the wife of Volney Gaudette, who was with Rainier Bank. She needle- 67
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Nancy Evans Research by John C. Hug
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certificate says Nancy Ann Bell, wh
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England family. There were a lot of
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Evans: Yes. My father’s mother wa
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Evans: Well, I was a spoiled brat.
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wartime. So that was a severe blow
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Madrigal Singers. I played the pian
Page 16 and 17: ecause she could say no. So I think
Page 18 and 19: had two grand pianos as well as the
Page 20 and 21: ecause he wasn’t waiting for me.
Page 22 and 23: and then I came. When I competed fo
Page 24 and 25: out of college, living with all the
Page 26 and 27: Christmas program. That was just a
Page 28 and 29: Hughes: What was your first impress
Page 30 and 31: in Vancouver. They were very Britis
Page 32 and 33: Evans: Dan tells this story wonderf
Page 34 and 35: Hughes: I’ve never met Sally Gort
Page 36 and 37: number of times but it’s still so
Page 38 and 39: SAS nonstop. You could have 40 poun
Page 40 and 41: Evans: No. I can’t. I think he wo
Page 42 and 43: Evans: Uh-huh. Hughes: Is that the
Page 44 and 45: Evans: That’s right. And lost. Bu
Page 46 and 47: Hughes: As things went along, were
Page 48 and 49: Hughes: Barry Goldwater may have be
Page 50 and 51: Hughes: Did you really find that pe
Page 52 and 53: Hughes: That’s funny. And then th
Page 54 and 55: Evans: Well, I used to always say t
Page 56 and 57: Evans: Yes, pronounced “Poe-gi.
Page 58 and 59: we’re sitting in the drawing room
Page 60 and 61: cabinet wives - the wives of the ca
Page 62 and 63: Evans: Well, Elsie was one. She was
Page 64 and 65: Evans: Yes. And in fact I remember
Page 68 and 69: pointed two pillows for us that are
Page 70 and 71: dog, “Peggy! Peggy! Come here, Pe
Page 72 and 73: een assassinated. So there was a ne
Page 74 and 75: Hughes: I’m told that the chief h
Page 76 and 77: Hughes: Was Neil McReynolds the gov
Page 78 and 79: carpet layer. I was standing there,
Page 80 and 81: just all the time because we were l
Page 82 and 83: Nelsen was his name. We hired him a
Page 84 and 85: Hughes: Nancy didn’t go along? Ev
Page 86 and 87: The Governor’s Foundation wanted
Page 88 and 89: ecome “senior” now to separate
Page 90 and 91: a trundle underneath, so three bunk
Page 92 and 93: sort of stabbed at it and tried to
Page 94 and 95: whole thing. I remember I was very
Page 96 and 97: Hughes: I bet that made a big hit.
Page 98 and 99: They had been put to bed but they w
Page 100 and 101: Hughes: I read that you, and I thin
Page 102 and 103: adjourn. I was young and had never
Page 104 and 105: at the hotel and said, “Do you ha
Page 106 and 107: chickens. We don’t like whole chi
Page 108 and 109: good causes. I couldn’t believe t
Page 110 and 111: never left your eyes. Paul Newman w
Page 112 and 113: go back to Dan for a few seconds, b
Page 114 and 115: Evans: And we don’t carry that ma
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told me that on the first trip he e
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people. Never. Dan had worked quite
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Nancy plays the piano for a sing-a-
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Evans: No. It was organized (in 196
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inauguration of President Obama. Th
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this cute little guy. Then we start
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Evans: No. But we met her and Princ
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the way Pickleball started. The sto
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Evans: Pretty much. I would hope th
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the library, which used to be a lit
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told this story that Jean Gardner c
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Evans: A bit out of the norm. So I
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then sort of a Van Dyke, and finall
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Hughes: Tell me about that. Evans:
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Hughes: Tell us about any other tri
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aquavit, which was terrible. And th
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I remember I was standing in the fr
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early. Well, when Dan was a freshma
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time.” Finally he decided to do i
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and put him on the plane for his ju
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president of the college. He just d
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Evans: Yes. I know he likes and res
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Heffernan: The other question I hav
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He hooked up with a lot of Australi
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think very well. So it was a huge l
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first of January. Then after some l
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But I got the rental furniture deli
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was very interesting. And he always
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Evans: Yes, we did. Hughes: Did you
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So we enjoyed all of that. But when
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was all decorated with very, very c
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me again. But that was my daily wal
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Hughes: You bought a house, tore it
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away after building your first-ever
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had good friends, Sherman and Nouch
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Evans: Yes. And “What about my ch
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learned he was coming to Seattle to
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the fire is lit, the cookies and mi
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very successful and it’s a separa
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Sheppard and she attended the UW. I
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over here. Celia, being a mother, w
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Evans: So they didn’t have to wor
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Hughes: You have always been pretty
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that he’s always easy, but he is
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“Crosscut” 100 Crystal Mountain
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Minnesota 12 Minow, Newt 187 Minto,
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Wallgren, Monrad 2 Washington, D.C.
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Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

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