Celebrating an icon

OSBURN — “The only word I can use is icon,” said Osburn Mayor Kip McGillivray. “He did so many things for this community, not just openly, but more importantly, the silent ones.”

Beloved Silver Valley giant Dale Lavigne passed away in February at the age of 91 — Mayor McGillivray and Osburn City Council wasted little time honoring him when they signed a declaration in March that declared his birthday, April 29, be forever known as Dale Lavigne Remembrance Day.

Lavigne was born and raised in Kellogg, and his work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit were evident from a young age. He played in a band at local establishments and worked as a meat cutter at the Pik-Wik in Kellogg during high school and college. While attending college at the University of Montana, Lavigne owned and ran his concession business in the dormitories, selling pop, candy and chips to the other students.

In 1953, Lavigne graduated with a degree in pharmacy, moving back to the Silver Valley, where he immediately began working at Brooks Pharmacy in Wallace. This same year, he married Rosalyn Pfiefer, on Sept. 12, in Kellogg, and together they raised seven children.

In 1958, Lavigne founded the Lavigne Drug Group. He and his brother Lew owned and operated five pharmacies in North Idaho and Western Montana, including owning the Morrow’s department and clothing store and Tabor’s.

“People had no idea that he was just a wealth of knowledge,” McGillivray said. “The last time that Dale and I got to talk, we talked for about an hour. He also had all of these amazing pictures that we went through, pictures from when his son Ron was just a baby. How Osburn looked at the time, how Wallace looked. He just meant so much to this community.”

As the economy began to change, Lavigne devoted his time to developing a specialty clothing and printing business, Idaho Mining Apparel and Supply, which is currently located in Osburn.

His son Ron Lavigne followed a similar path to his fathers, also receiving his degree at the University of Montana in pharmacy and becoming the president/CEO of Idaho Mining Apparel and Supply.

While serving as chairman of the Silver Valley Economic Development Corporation in the early 1990s, Lavigne was also on the Kellogg Gondola Committee, helping boost the economy and tourism by providing the 3.1-mile Gondola feature to the eventually named Silver Mountain Resort.

“He was involved in so many things,” McGillivray said. “He was close with the Idaho Governors, whenever the governor was coming to town, he would always call and invite me to come and meet with them. He’s just an absolutely amazing man.”

Lavigne was also the task force chairman of the Silver Valley Task Force during the early 1980s when the Bunker Hill Co. mine and smelter operations were in negotiations, adding a voice of reason to the debate.

Although Lavigne was rubbing elbows with prominent officials, this certainly didn’t mean he was too high and mighty or too busy to get to know the individuals of the Silver Valley that would visit his stores.

“When you walked into the Osburn Drug, it was like Norm walking into Cheers, he knew your name as you came through the day,” McGillivray said. “He knew to ask about your family, tell this guy a joke, or talk to this person about the church. He was just that guy, a real people person. I’m honored to have been as close to him as I was.”

To honor Lavigne, the city of Osburn will plant a tree in his memory on Arbor Day, Friday, April 28, at Lion’s Park after the Library Arbor Day Celebration and install a commemorative plaque. The tree will be planted, along with the plaque, around 4:30.

“There wasn’t a lot of planning, it really just all came together,” McGillivray said. “We wanted to honor him, and it just grew from there as we later had a discussion about Arbor Day. It really just worked out.”

McGillivray explained that community members could also hold Lavigne in remembrance on his birthday, April 29, by remembering the impact he had.

“Dale’s remembrance has to live on. He was so impactful that it’s hard to bring up a situation that somehow his name is not going to come up.”