Editor's Note: A public reception honoring Joan Kellogg has been scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. at the Meadowlark Senior Center, 4330 Meadowlark Lane.

City loses a leading lady

Rio Rancho lost one of its leading ladies last week.

I could also say the city lost one of it’s grand dames and toughest broads when Joan Kellogg died of cancer at age 65 on Wednesday, and it would be as accurate. She was a city leader when it was still tough for a woman to break into the “good ‘ole boy’s club,” and she more than kept the boys on their toes during her long career of service to the city.

When city councilor Howard Balmer was appointed to fill a vacant seat (to which he has been twice reelected), the vote was 5-1. The lone dissenter? You guessed it.

“Somebody mentioned – maybe it was me – that I was a Republican, and Joan said it didn’t matter if I was a Republican or Democrat because ‘we don’t play partisan politics on this council,’ ’’ Balmer said. “That is the best example I know of that speaks of the way she did business on the council.

“And after that, we became the best of friends.”

County commissioner Dave Bency, who also served on the council with Kellogg, was visibly moved when he called for a moment of silence at the beginning of Thursday’s meeting of Sandoval County officials.

“I’m still in shock,” he said.

Todd Hathorne, candidate for the District 6 city council seat, recalls Kellogg visiting with Enchanted Hills residents when the Paseo del Volcan issue first heated up.

“She was very gracious,” Hathorne said. “She went to one house right next to where it was going to be built, and she was very conscious of the emotional level that the resident felt about having what in essence is a freeway being built next to her home.

“She was very straight-forward. I couldn’t believe the intensity with which she listened. She made you know she cared about the problem.”

County commissioner Jack Thomas recalled that Kellogg "was a real advocate for senior affairs. She had the interest of seniors at heart. She was a nice person to be around, and she was honest and open. You always knew where she stood."

Mayor Mike Williams said, "She was like a mother to me. She would watch council meetings on TV, call me during breaks and give me good advice.

"Her heart was in Rio Rancho. She was a very good friend to my wife Kealy and me, and she will be sorely missed."

Kellogg’s time on the council had past before I began covering the county for a local newspaper. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t have her influence.

There are some who would say one reason that publication and I parted ways was because I was a little too loud in a crowded newsroom. If so, most of those conversations were with Joan or Jean Sievert, another grand lady and community treasure.

“It’s your girlfriend on the phone,” a fellow reporter would say, sarcastically, before transferring the call to my extension.

Joan wouldn’t call often, but when she did I knew the information was going to lead to a good story. And her opinions on issues and events helped bring a different  perspective to a young reporter who might otherwise have missed it.

To he husband Fred and the rest of the family, our condolences. To paraphrase that old Irish lyric, “Joanie, we hardly knew ye.”

But we’re damned glad we did, even if the time was far too short.

- Eric Maddy