Mabel Swanreed Stilwell, 87
Mabel Swanreed Stilwell, 87, passed away in Sandpoint, Idaho, on Monday, Aug. 23, 2004.
Memorial services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 28, 2004, in the Sandpoint First Lutheran Church. Pastor Dave Olson will officiate.
Mabel was born in Swan Valley, Mont., on Aug. 9, 1917, the daughter of Charles and Olivia (Kvammen) Lundberg. She was raised in the Swan Valley of Montana, attending the Pine Ridge School. She graduated from Missoula County High School in 1936, and then from Western Montana Teachers College in Dillon, Mont., where she received her teaching certificate. She also attended the University of Montana in Missoula.
Her first school teaching position was with the Wise River School in Wise River, Mont.
She married Jens W. Monrad on Aug. 9, 1940, and he preceded her in death in 1943.
She taught at the DeSmit and Franklin schools in the Missoula County school system, from 1944 until 1947.
On May 24, 1947, she married Clarence Stilwell in Missoula, Mont. They lived in Condon and Creston, Mont., and Kingston, Idaho. She started the first kindergarten in Kingston. She moved to Sandpoint in 1958 and was a substitute teacher in the Bonner County school system. In 1973, she returned to the Swan Valley in Montana and helped build their log home on the Swan River. For health reasons, she returned to Sandpoint in October 2001.
She served as president of the Sandpoint Civic Club in 1962. She was active, as a leader, in scouting activities over the years. She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star in Kellogg. She was always active in the Lutheran Church where she lived, attending church in Kellogg, Pinehurst and Sandpoint, Idaho, and Condon, Mont.
She enjoyed her flower gardens, baking, especially apple pies; picking huckleberries, reading and writing poetry. She will be remembered as a loving and caring mother.
She is survived by five children, Olive A. Harris of Sandpoint, Jenise I. (George) Eskridge of Dover, Idaho, Joseph W. Stilwell of Lisbon, Maine, Susan M. (Bob) Puckett of Sandpoint, and Karla C. (Dwayne) Sheffler of Sandpoint; 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren; and a brother, Warner Lundberg of Condon, Mont.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands, Jen and Clarence; a brother, two sisters, a son-in-law, Jeff Harris; a daughter-in-law, Judith Madeline Wheeler; and a great-grandson, Bryce Puckett.
An educational scholarship will be established in the name of Mabel Stilwell. Donations, in her memory, may be sent to: Susan Puckett, 2220 Ontario, Sandpoint, Idaho, 82864.
Funeral arrangements are under the care of Coffelt Funeral Service.