Sande – Coeur d'Alene Public Library

Dr. Jack Riggs

John Sande (born July 1882 in Ulen, MN) and Ida Ongstad (born February 1896 in Pelican Rapids, MN) were married in 1924. They moved to Columbus, ND where Lolita was born in 1925 and Joanne was born April 4, 1929. John operated several threshing rigs and did carpentry in Burke County. Ida worked as a meat cutter and served dinner to farm hands on a rail car. In 1933, during the dustbowl, they traveled by car west as far as Yakima, WA and then turned around and came back to Coeur d’Alene. Ida then went to beauty school in Spokane for nine months before beginning work in a salon on Coeur d’Alene Ave in the Oddfellows Building in 1937. They lived next to the salon at 412 Coeur d’Alene Ave. In 1943, they moved to 417 Montana Ave where she owned and operated a free standing salon, Ida’s Beauty Shop, for the next 35 years. John passed away in 1973 and Ida in 1986.

John’s brother Martin and his wife Lillian came from Arnegard, ND, to Coeur d’Alene in 1942 with their four sons, Leland “Pee Wee” (1925), Edwin (1927), Wendell (1929), and Carmen “Bud” (1930). Martin and Lillian owned and managed an apartment complex at 2nd and Garden for many years. Martin also worked for Potlatch Corporation and Lillian as a hair dresser. Wendell and his family have lived in this area ever since.

On December 8, 1945, Joanne Sande married Frank Riggs of Coeur d’Alene. They had four children, all delivered by Dr. E.R.W. Fox at Lake City General Hospital on Lakeside Ave in Coeur d’Alene – Ron (April 10, 1949), Kathleen, (October 16, 1951), Jack (October 1, 1954) and Sandra (March 10, 1963). Frank worked for Kaiser Aluminum – Trentwood from 1946 until retirement in 1983. He also owned and operated a Conoco gas station at 4th and Best in Coeur d’Alene from 1966 to 1969. Frank and Joanne built eight houses in the Coeur d’Alene area. The family lived at various houses, including 838 N. 5th Street, Dalton Gardens, 1023 N. 5th St, 1112 N. 11th St, and then back to Dalton Gardens. Both Frank and Joanne passed away in 1996, only eight weeks apart, shortly after their 50th wedding anniversary. Ron, his wife Sandy, and three children – Tracy, Brandy and Aaron; Kathy and her son Bert; and Sandee all still live in the Coeur d’Alene area.

In 1975, Jack married Rachel Caughran and they had three children, Shannon Kay (June 28, 1977), Peter John (August 17, 1979), and Jennifer Joanne (October 29, 1981). Jack attended the University of Idaho and University of Washington School of Medicine. After serving in the Air Force as an Emergency Room Director, he returned to Coeur d’Alene and opened North Idaho Immediate Care Center in 1986. He then entered the Idaho State Senate in 1996 and became the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Idaho in 2001, serving until 2003.

Shannon, Peter and Jennifer all attended the University of Idaho and graduated with Honors. Shannon married Paul Erwin in December 1997. They reside in downtown Coeur d’Alene and have two children – Ella Kay (July 20, 2000) and Tate Alexander (July 22, 2002). In 2003, Jack returned from Boise to Coeur d’Alene and created a medical partnership for his growing medical practice. Once again single, he and his children led the acquisition of Pita Pit Inc. in 2005, bringing the Headquarters of Pita Pit USA, Inc. to Coeur d’Alene.