Barbara Shinpoch, 1931-2005: She helped save horse racing in area

Barbara Shinpoch's children gave her a box seat at Longacres for a Mother's Day present in the early 1960s, starting a lengthy love affair with Thoroughbreds and racing.

Three decades later, she was in the hot seat as chairwoman of the Washington Horse Racing Commission at a time when the industry's future was in doubt.

Tempered by her eight years as Renton's first female mayor and armed with a quick wit, Shinpoch steered the commission through a contentious period after Longacres closed in Renton in 1992 and an Auburn site -- later known as Emerald Downs -- was chosen the next year to replace it.

Shinpoch died Wednesday after a series of illnesses. She was 73.

"She will be remembered forever as the reason there's (Thoroughbred) racing in Western Washington, period," Emerald Downs President Ron Crockett said yesterday.

"She's absolutely the one.

"We get credit for saving the industry, but looking back, if she had not been the chair and as strong as she was, we'd never have gotten there," Crockett said.

Ralph Vacca, general manager of the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Association, agreed.

"I loved her as a friend, and I loved her as a civic servant for what she did to promote, foster and really save racing in the state of Washington," he said.

Twelve years ago, Shinpoch stood firm amid withering criticism when the Horse Racing Commission considered and eventually gave Crockett's Auburn proposal the nod over a bid from Fife, despite environmental concerns over the future Emerald Downs site and fears that delays would kill the industry.

Some called for her resignation. Newspaper editorials and cartoons slammed her.

"I'm not a quitter," Shinpoch declared at the time, saying the commission would not be intimidated.

"She was the leader and took a lot of heat.

"It was unfounded, but that's the way it is," Vacca said yesterday.

Former Gov. Mike Lowry, who appointed Shinpoch to the commission in 1993, had long known her and her husband of 49 years, the late Albert "Bud" Shinpoch, who was chairman of the powerful Ways and Means committees in both chambers of the Legislature.

"Thoroughbred racing was in real trouble when Longacres closed," Lowry said. "There are two people who I think deserve most of the credit for saving it. That's Barbara Shinpoch and Ron Crockett."

Shinpoch, a native of Reedsport, Mont., was elected Renton mayor in 1979 and re-elected in 1983.

She served on numerous boards, including the state Transportation Commission and the Northwest Kidney Center.

Along the way, she mentored Kathy Keolker-Wheeler, who served 20 years on the Renton City Council and became the city's second female mayor last year.

"Maybe she saw some of herself in me," Keolker-Wheeler said. "At one point, she was a young, single mom. I was that way part of my life, too.

"She had a way of bringing out the best in people and making you believe you could make a difference."

Because she grew up poor, Shinpoch helped establish a Renton food bank and "never forgot people who were hungry," said her son-in-law, Rick Scappini of Renton.

"Every Christmas, Barbara would take 20s, 50s and 100s (in dollar bills) and sit in front of the Salvation Army," watching needy people come and go, he said.

When she spotted those for whom a little cash would make a big difference, she pressed a bill in their hands -- with "no strings," Scappini said.

Shinpoch is survived by her daughters, Jan Shinpoch of Washington, D.C., and Terre Scappini of Renton; and four grandchildren: Angela Pinchin of Renton, Nicholas Scappini of Maple Valley, Barry Scappini of Seattle and Caroline Shinpoch of Washington, D.C.

She also is survived by three sisters: Sharon Brown of Fremont, Calif., Beverly Conley of Stanwood and Penny Finnie of Tacoma.

At Shinpoch's request, no memorial service will be held.

She had suggested that contributions be made to the Shinpoch Memorial Fund in care of the Renton Salvation Army Food Bank, P.O. Box 977, Renton, WA, 98057, or to the Renton Historical Society, 235 Mill Ave. S., Renton, WA, 98055.

More headlines and info from Auburn, Renton.