PHOTO BY JENNIFER COLTON
[quote style=”2″]Service Set for Saturday at Clara Brownell Middle School[/quote]
Umatilla Mayor Pat Lafferty died Thursday morning after a battle with cancer at the age of 57.
An engineer for Union Pacific Railroad, Lafferty spent most of his life serving the community of Umatilla, giving countless hours to youth sports, mentoring programs and civil service.
“Not everyone agreed with Pat, but there isn’t anyone out there who would disagree he had Umatilla’s interests ahead of his own,” City Manager Bob Ward said Thursday. “He will certainly be missed here by friends, family, the whole community, the region. We were all looking forward to many more years with Pat at the helm.”
Lafferty moved to Umatilla in 1969 when his father worked for Bonneville Power. He graduated from Umatilla High School and soon returned to his hometown through his work with Union Pacific. He became involved through the schools and youth sports programs before taking a spot on the Umatilla School Board in the late 1990s.
When he wasn’t on the rails or serving the community, Lafferty enjoyed fishing, hunting and being outdoors. Dennis Roberts, of La Grande, was a longtime friend and hunting companion. Roberts called Lafferty a good hunter, a great friend and a caring person.
“When we would go hunting, he’d put me in one spot and then he’d hit the canyons and do all the hard work,” Roberts said. “He just put me there to keep my eyes out and hopefully he would drive something toward me. We had a lot of fun whenever we did go hunting. He was a great friend. We had a lot of good times. He was quite a character to have known and did things with. He will be missed.”
Lafferty ran for mayor in 2011 after overwhelming support from local residents. He planned to fill the remainder of a term left by the former mayor’s sudden resignation, but Lafferty found himself at home in the mayoral seat.
“I think that Pat was maybe not a reluctant mayor but possibly an unlikely mayor,” Ward said. “He had a colorful past he wasn’t bashful to recount. Nonetheless, I think everyone would agree Pat’s heart and soul was in Umatilla and particularly Umatilla’s kids. Everything he did was on their behalf.”
Lafferty coached youth basketball for many years and would drive around and pick students up on Saturdays and Sundays so they could play basketball in the school gyms. He served on the Community Accountability Board in a desire to help rehabilitate youth offenders and was a member of the Umatilla School Board for almost 15 years, including consecutive service since 2001.
“It’s a pretty amazing legacy when I think about Pat. He really was a rock,” Umatilla School District Superintendent Heidi Sipe said. “He’s been very focused on making sure kids have opportunities and felt safe and happy.”
The mayor was instrumental in the district’s anti-bullying program and policy. He came up with the student tip line, where students can call and bring up any concerns they don’t want their name connected to. He worked to decrease youth violence, gang activity, and alcohol and drug use, never shying away from any topic.
“He was such a passionate person,” Sipe said. “I didn’t always agree with him, but you knew whatever he said was going to be about what he thought was best for the kids. He liked a good debate and he liked to share ideas. You knew what you were going to get from Pat, and it was going to be absolutely from a source with a heart as good as gold.”
In the summer of 2013, Lafferty took a leave of absence from his role as mayor because of his cancer treatments. He remained in communication with many people in Umatilla to make sure things in his town “stayed on track.”
“He’s a great example of small town leadership,” Sipe said. “He helped with everything. He grew up in the area. He was committed to making the community better. When you think about what makes a small town great, it’s people like Pat.”
As recently as Tuesday’s Umatilla City Council meeting, city staff and council members discussed Lafferty’s bone marrow transplant and his planned return to Umatilla in a month after he completed treatment and testing. They discussed how volunteers from the city, police department, fire district and school district were hosting a cleanup at Lafferty’s house over the weekend doing yard work and repairs in preparation for the return.
Later this week, the family learned the transplant had failed. He returned home to Umatilla on Saturday to be with his family. Reports say he died peacefully on Thursday morning.
“Pat gave his all to this community,” Umatilla Chamber of Commerce Director Karen Hutchinson-Talaski said. “He was a fantastic supporter of the city, the school district and the citizens and children of Umatilla. He was a good guy and will be missed.”
Moving forward, the Umatilla community will mourn Lafferty and begin the search for a new mayor.
“We will do whatever we can to make these times easier for the Lafferty family, as much as we can,” Ward said. “Then, we will continue on to find a replacement for Pat. There really is none, but I think we can find somebody in the community that will have his same shared interest in Umatilla and making Umatilla a better place.”
A celebration of life service will take place 1 p.m. this Saturday at Clara Brownell Middle School, in the gym where he spent his days coaching and mentoring Umatilla students.
