Teacher’S Writings Live On Husband, Colleagues Put History Workbook Into Print After Her Death

The late Margaret Krause French touched the lives of countless children during her career as a school teacher in Spokane.

She had a passion for history and believed schools should teach children to appreciate the roots of their community.

Before her death to cancer last July, French coauthored a 34-page workbook called “Spokane: A City with Historical Style” on the architectural history of the city.

The book, which is available to area classrooms for free, gives easy-to-understand lessons on historic preservation and the variety of home styles in Spokane.

Its publication this fall also underscores the dedication of two lifelong friends.

“She didn’t live to see the finished product,” said Nancy Gale Compau, her friend and co-author of the book.

French saw a proof of the cover a few days before she died and knew it was going to the printer.

“She was so pleased,” Compau said.

Compau and French met when they attended Lewis and Clark High School.

As young adults, they traveled to New York by bus and caught a passenger liner to Europe. Later, both taught in Spokane public schools.

French taught third-grade for many years and retired from Mullan Road Elementary School. She also spent part of her career working as the secretary to the late Rev. Richard Coombs at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

Her love of history had a seed in her own past. She was descended from early Pennsylvania colonists, and her grandfather founded the Krause Candy Co. in Spokane.

Compau is historian in the Northwest Room of Spokane’s Downtown Library and is recognized as an expert in the region’s past.

It wasn’t their first publishing effort.

In the mid-90s the two women collaborated with Marcia O’Neill Schrapps, a Roman Catholic nun, on an elementary textbook about Spokane history. French wrote the accompanying workbook.

After that, they decided to write the latest product as a companion workbook on Spokane’s architectural heritage.

French wrote much of the text for the newly published workbook but was too ill to participate in its completion, said her husband, Robert French.

“Nancy was the one who was the leader on the book,” he said. “This was done for the benefit of schoolchildren and their teachers.”

The book shows the major characteristics that distinguish architectural styles. It is essentially a primer on the differences between Queen Anne Victorian, Craftsman bungalow, Tudor, Dutch Colonial, Classical Revival, American Foursquare and more modern styles.

It also describes structural components used in residential architecture and the importance of preservation.

Compau received help from others.

Gary Zagelow, librarian at Mullan Road school, took photographs of homes and did line drawings of various house styles.

Tony and Suzanne Bamonte, who have written several books on local history, prepared the layouts on their computer.

French and Compau paid for the publishing.

“We hope teachers will want to use it,” Compau said.

Copies of the book may be obtained by calling the Northwest Room of the Downtown Library at 444-5338.

For Compau and others, its publication keeps the legacy of Maggie French alive in the community.

“She was a real lady,” Zagelow said.

This sidebar appeared with the story: Book at library

Copies of “Spokane: A City with Historical Style” can be obtained by calling the Northwest Room of the Downtown Library at 444-5338.