Soap Lake’s own Edna Jurgens was bestowed many lofty titles over the years.  Madoline McNamara said she had a heart of gold and called her the angel of Soap Lake. Her son Joe said,  “My mom had a heart bigger than the moon.”  Father McDonnell from St. Rose of Lima Catholic church in Ephrata told her she was, “the best Baptist Catholic” he ever knew.  She earned these accolades through her unstinting service to the poor over the 40 years she operated her Catholic Charities Thrift store. Edna is no longer with us, but her legacy is.

<!--StartFragment-->

For most of the forty years that Edna operated her charity thrift shop, she moved around town from one empty building to another, staying as long as the landlord, often accepting little or no rent, would let her.  Edna supplied the needy with clothes, furniture, household items and money when she had it.  She lived with her son Jim, and their backyard clothesline was often full with the many wash loads of donated clothing she carefully laundered before hanging. She worked closely with Madoline McNamara who was the Branch Director of Catholic Family and Child Services. 

It was through her association with Madoline and the women of the volunteer Catholic Altar Society that Edna designated the name of her thrift shop as the Catholic Charities Thrift Shop.  Eventually, the Bishop of the Catholic diocese in Yakima sent her a letter telling her to cease calling her store Catholic Charities as it was not affiliated with the church or the charity stores run by the church. Edna didn’t change the name of her little store, and to this day, her family cites the aforementioned comment by Father McDonnell.

Edna’s son Jim, a teacher at Soap Lake schools helped move his mom from one place to another for so many years. In 1986 he bought the Westhaven Mini Storage building, that was, years ago the Delaney lumberyard, located on the corner of 2^nd and Division.  This gave Edna a permanent location, which she operated until 1999 when she parted from her earthly calling for one in a bigger, much brighter place.

 In the years that followed, several family members tried to keep it open.  For a while, daughter Edna operated the store under Edna’s New Again.  Health issues forced closure.  Later it was opened as The Barn and U-Haul rental.  It was only open a few days a week. 

In March 2009, Edna’s grandson Tom opened the shop and it’s adjacent storage warehouse as Westhaven Secondhand, with the slogan, home of the year round indoor yard sale.  For the last year, with the help of his fiancé, Sharleen and carpenter Chris Gee, they have made steady progress upgrading the building and the large corner lot.  The store is open seven days a week, and as Tom notes, “we have a little bit of everything and a lot of nothing.”  He adds that at this point, all the money goes towards fixing the place up and to continue his grandmother’s work helping needy families.

The shop is open six days a week from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM and on Sunday from 12:30 until 5:00 PM.  Donations of clothing, household items and furniture can be delivered during business hours.

<!--EndFragment-->