OROVADA - Everyone says that lightning never strikes twice in the same spot - but is that always true? McDermitt Combined School Alumni Deena (Stinton) Moddrell, class of 1972, may have reason to question that old saying!!
Deena's paternal great grandfather, Tom Stinton immigrated from Mansell, Herefordshire, England, in the late 1800s. He married Melinda Dickerson of Millville, Calif., and began putting together a ranch south of the Owyhee Indian Reservation in northern Nevada. He built his herd to about 1,000 head of cattle and donated land for the little town of Mountain City. The headquarters ranch house still stands south of the town, on the east side of the highway. (Melinda's brother, Deena's great great uncle, Denver Dickerson, was elected Nevada's lieutenant governor in 1906 and became acting governor when Gov. Sparks died in 1908. His reputation as a humanitarian and reformer eventually led to an appointment as Federal Inspector of Prisons by President Wilson.)
Deena's grandfather Thomas Bruce Stinton married Delia (Martin) in 1915 and her dad, Frank, was the second of their four children. When Frank was 17 years old, lightning struck twice within days. His older brother, 19-year-old Jewel, developed pneumonia out at the ranch and died a few days later at the Elko hospital. While Frank rode with his uncle back to the ranch after the funeral his parents flew back, all arriving safely. However, his 15-year-old sister June, 12-year-old brother Don and their 13-year-old cousin were flying home with Floyd DeLong when their plane crashed and all of them perished! A couple of years later her great grandfather sold the ranch to Walt Davidson and her grandparents moved to Fernley, where they opened a grocery store.
Deena's maternal grandparents, Les and Alice (Wiley) Mink moved from Elko to open a café/bar in Mountain City and when their daughter Pat was home from school she met Frank Stinton. By then Frank was a pilot, and had trained with the Army Air Corp, receiving his wings just as World War II ended. After they were married Frank and Pat moved to Alaska and he enjoyed flying as a bush pilot. Deena's sister Debbie Hill (MHS 1969) was born there in 1951. Homesick, they moved back to Mountain City where Frank continued his flying career - mustanging. Their second daughter Dawn Jeffress (MHS 1971) was born in Winnemucca in 1953, and Deena, born in Carson City, joined the family on Dec. 18, 1954. Lightning hit the third time just before Deena's first birthday when her dad almost died from polio, leaving him disabled and ending the flying career he loved. He was sent to a veterans hospital in Long Beach, Calif., where he spent time in an iron lung before going through rehabilitation. Pat went with him and soon brought her three little girls there as well.
Les and Alice Mink leased the Desert Inn Hotel and Bar from Vic and Boat Albisu, and moved to McDermitt in the mid 50's. When Frank was released from the hospital they went to California and brought him, Pat and their three granddaughters to live close to them in McDermitt. Deena was 4 at the time. Looking back she says that she doesn't remember thinking that there was anything wrong with her dad - he was upbeat and still loved to fly whenever he could catch a ride with friends. He stayed home and looked after the children which eventually included a baby brother, Thomas Bruce Stinton, born in 1961. Pat worked at the Quinn River Merc and later at the Say When to financially support the family. That next November the proverbial lightning struck again and Pat and Frank lost the moral support of Les and Alice who, on a hunting trip to Idaho, were trapped in a brutal snowstorm, losing their lives to carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to keep warm in their camper.
By this time Deena was in school and really liked her first grade teacher Mrs. French. She remembers going to the third grade over in the Oregon school and there Mrs. Pettibone was a great teacher, honing her students' memorization skills with book reports, drama, music, and of course multiplication tables. Mr. Gumke, her sixth-grade teacher, liked Deena's class so much that later as principal, he walked in their graduation line with them before his retirement. In high school, Tom Johnstone (brother of Sammy Ugalde of Kings River) was an outstanding government teacher; Liz Landis was the Home EC teacher; Mr. Nish taught business and Shirley Schafer was the English teacher.
Deena's freshman class was McDermitt's largest ever with 45 kids. By their senior year they were down to only 18, due to the closing of the Cordero Mine. Graduating in 1972 as Salutatorian of her class Deena, and classmates Lynette Dorian and Sandra (Albisu) Bengoa, went to ITT Link's School of Business in Boise, Idaho. Taking Airline Secretarial Training (which was a full secretarial course but included airline ticket registrations at a time when it was done by hand without computers!) Deena graduated in May of 1973.
She returned to McDermitt but a month later the assistant director at Link's, Dale Reynolds, called and asked her to come to work for the school - she accepted and continued on when he became director. Deena worked as his secretary, and was also secretary for the Sales Office, the Housing Office and the Financial Aid Office, for a total of six years. While she was there, in 1976, her family suffered more heart break, when her younger brother Tom drowned while swimming with friends in a reservoir north of McDermitt.
1977 began a new phase of Deena's life when she married John Moddrell, a Boise State University student. Two years later John was offered a teaching/coaching position at McDermitt that began in the fall of 1979. (He would later become the principal, holding that position until he retired.) Deena stayed in Boise to finish up her job before joining him back in her home town in October of 79.
Her first year back home, Deena was employed by the McDermitt Mine to organize and inventory supplies in the warehouse. Pregnant with their son Monty (MHS 1999), she worked until complications set in requiring strict bed rest from October till the baby was born in December of 1980. In June of 1981 when she returned to work it was as secretary at her old alma mater - McDermitt Combined School.
Over the next 30 years she worked with five principals (Gerry Rockstad, Jerald Lugert, John Moddrell, Don Almquist and Janet Kennedy); six superintendents (Bob Scott, Ken Lords, Tony Wiggins, Charlotte Peterson, Del Jarman and Mike Bumgartner) and numerous students. She had started taking night classes in Boise and continued at Northern Nevada Community College, receiving her Associates of Arts Degree in May 2005.
John and Deena's daughter Melody (MHS 2000) was born in 1982. She now has a degree in education and works as a special ed teacher in Newport, Wash. Melody is the mother of John and Deena's first grandchild, Edith.
Monty works at Mister Car Wash in Boise, Idaho, where he is undergoing managerial training while working on an education degree to teach secondary math. He and his wife Jill are the proud parents of the Moddrells' second granddaughter, Allison, and will be adding a third grandchild in July.
Retiring last year, Deena and John moved to Valley, Wash., (near Spokane) to care for John's mom. Deena says that it is pretty there and she enjoys taking care of little Edith three days a week. However, even though John grew up in Washington, they are both homesick for the little border town on the high desert of Nevada. Deena says that when they can, they want to go home - to McDermitt!
Deena would share with the McDermitt kids what her parents told their girls, over and over, the whole time they were growing up. "Get an education!! Don't count on husbands to take care of you as things can happen you don't expect. You could find yourself in a situation similar to ours and need a good job to earn a living for your family!" Deena has seen many McDermitt kids (K-12) grow up during her watch at the school and she adds, "After high school, don't be afraid to go on to higher education. EVERYONE CAN GO ON TO COLLEGE OR TRADE SCHOOL - there are financial aid packages available for students whether you are from low or high income families. Last but not least - if you start it - FINISH IT!!!!"
Sharon Falen's column on McDermitt alumni appears the first Tuesday of each month in the Humboldt Sun.[[In-content Ad]]
