I write the stories of interesting Valley folk and since this is the month in which Mother’s Day occurs, it dawned on me to share the unique story of a Valley person who happens to be a  mother, my mother actually. My mom, Bobbie Jean Swanson, is not unlike most women because she was a good mother, or a standout because she has lived in the Valley since 1945 and remains married to Dad, her high school sweetheart,

after 54 years. While those who know Don Swanson might call that an incredible achievement, Mom’s noteworthy accomplishment is really having done what a lot of men only dreamt about or tried and failed at. For 38 years Mom has been a woman among men, surviving through good times and bad as a general contractor, building  hundreds of homes throughout the Valley.

   It seems somehow fitting that Mom, a future homebuilder was actually born in the back bedroom of  a small but sturdy two-room house. Her young parents lived in a poor rural Arkansas community and soon moved to the Northwest, when she was three, where her father  worked the logging camps of Idaho. When she was in third grade they moved to the big city of Spokane and she went to Opportunity Grade School at Pines and Sprague.  

   “The school was so overcrowded that my eighth grade class had to move over to the Valley Methodist church,” she said recently, “ the next year North Pines was finished and we were the first graduating class.” The year was 1950.

   From there she went to Central Valley where she became a songleader, which as the

name suggests was the group who led the fans in fight songs, while the cheerleaders led them in cheers. “We had a lot of spirit back then,” she said. Mom also fell in love with Dad , a football standout , and married him the September after graduation in 1954.

   For the next 18 years Mom worked part time jobs and devoted herself to raising us three kids while doing the books for Dad as he built a solid foundation business. For years Dad and his partner ,Don Barden, worked as sub-contractors putting in hundreds of basements for general contractors and do-it-your-selfers.

   “It was your Dad’s idea that I should try building houses once you kids got older,” Mom said, “ he saw teachers and firemen and insurance salesmen building houses and he figured I could do it too. At first, he helped me a lot but I made it a goal to learn fast so that we would stay married.”

   So in 1972, Mom built her first house and then two more that year. Soon she was  building between 8 and 12 houses a year, even though  parts of the home building process went against the grain of her shy personality. “ It just wasn’t natural for me,” she said, “ I always found it very difficult to call the subs up and schedule them . I still don’t like that part of it.”

    “I still remember going up to the Ponderosa where Bob Henshaw was framing a house and walking from my car to him and introducing myself,” she said, “ It was hard but I just knew I could do anything I made myself do.” As it turned out, her timid approach

was unique and brought forth respect and appreciation  from the men she dealt with.

   “I hit it off right away with your mother,” Bob said recently, “I worked for everybody and most contractors were not personable like your mother. She was very honest, trusting and trustworthy.”

   Another framer, Larry Toombs, who worked for many contractors saw the difference as well. “Bobbie had a soft approach while most builders were pushy and tried to manipulate you with the checkbook,” he said, “She was always cordial and soft spoken but she could take control if she had to. I always had the utmost respect for her.”
   Norm Thomson of Specialty Insulation found her to be a reliable pleasure to work with. “She was just more organized than the other builders,” he said. “ As long as you got your work done , it always worked out. You could always just count on her.”

    There were other traits about her, perhaps because of her gender, that stood out to in the industry. "I was building with 2x6 walls and extra insulation long before it was code because I liked to be warm and I wanted my people to be warm.”

   "The part about homebuilding I have always enjoyed is the design and colors," she said.“ I always got a kick out people saying they just knew there was something different about my homes after they learned a woman built it.”

   Beyond the hundreds of homes she has built with a woman’s touch, Mom has long cared for the people who are dependent upon her business for a livelihood. She employs 5 full time employees and has that many sub-contractors who work on her homes exclusively. Several more  depend heavily on her business. She once told me she didn’t know what would happen to them if she stopped building.

   My father who pushed her into the trade has long since retired and wishes she would do the same. And as her son, I would kind of like to see her slow down and enjoy  her golden years. But as one of her two sons that have worked with her and learned a trade and built a career with her, I am very grateful that Dad believed she could be what she made herself  be, a builder of Valley homes.