Hanigan named Citizen of the Year

The Cathlamet Woman's Club has named George Hanigan as their Citizen of the Year 2009.

Hanigan is a fourth generation Wahkiakum resident and a third generation attorney with a long list of credits and services to Wahkiakum County.

He graduated from Wahkiakum High School in 1956 where he played football, basketball and baseball. He was student body vice-president as a junior and president as a senior. He attended Oregon State College for two years before transferring to Gonzaga University in 1958, graduating with a degree in finance. He earned a juris doctoris degree from Gonzaga School of Law in 1966.

He married Mary Kennelly on August 10, 1965 in Fargo, N.D. The couple have four children Hank, Kate, Tim and Molly and 10 grandchildren.

Hanigan was elected Wahkiakum County Prosecuting Attorney and Coroner as a write-in candidate in 1966. After getting changes in Sate Law, he was instrumental in establishing the county's cumulative reserve fund into which the money from county timber trust land sales was deposited locally as long as the county was in debt. That change allowed the county to get out of debt and funded many county projects through the years.

Hanigan also helped with the creation, acquisition, funding, and improvement of projects including the Elochoman Slough Marina, Skamokawa Vista Park and the County Line Park.

Hanigan has belonged to many service organizations and is still a member and officer of the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce. He will be honored at a dinner, a rose bush will be planted in his honor at the Julia Butler Hansen Museum and he will ride in the Bald Eagle Day parade as Citizen of the Year.