About the Author

Ellen McIntosh Proctor was born in Penrith, Washington, April 14, 1913. She was raised on Half Moon Prairie, north of Spokane, Washington. In 1940 she and her husband moved to the Cheney, Washington area. During the 1960s, Ellen was a member of the Amber history committee where she helped to gather and research information on the families and history of that small community south of Cheney. She wrote a series of biographical sketches of Cheney area pioneers and mayors as part of the Cheney Historical Museum's contribution to the Washington State Centennial celebration of 1989. During the Washington State centennial year, Ellen Proctor was appointed Cheney Historian. She later co-authored a book with Barbara Barton McBride about the pioneers of her childhood home called Half Moon Prairie 1883-1995. Ellen Proctor passed away in Cheney in 2009 at the age of 96. Joan Mamanakis, the daughter of an Air Force family, was born in Rome, New York. Her father retired from the military in 1960 and the family settled in Cheney, near her mother's hometown of Spokane, Washington. Joan grew up in Cheney and graduated from high school there before heading off to college and a career in Seattle. After returning to her hometown in 2001 she became involved with the Cheney Historical Museum, and there discovered her passion for the local history.