Velma Lois (Philpot) Spears, 97

Velma Lois (Philpot) Spears, 97, passed away on Monday, May 16, 2005, at her home near Noxon, Mont.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, 2005, at Coffelt's Moon Chapel in Sandpoint, Idaho. Pastor Mark Yoder will officiate. A visitation will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, 2005, at Coffelt's Moon Chapel.

Velma will be buried beside her beloved husband, Robert, at Pinecrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Sandpoint.

She was born on Aug. 6, 1907, in Cherry Hill, Ark., the daughter of Seaborn and Alice (Groves) Philpot.

When she was a little girl, Velma remembered her mother making sauerkraut and chow-chow in crock jars and storing them in the root cellar. After school, she and her sister Allie would go to the cellar and get handfuls of great sauerkraut.

Velma grew up in Oklahoma and graduated from Gerty High School in 1929. She met and married Robert Spears on Sept. 12, 1931, in Holdenville, Okla. Velma attended college in Edmond, Okla., and ended up teaching along with her brother and sister for many years in Gerty, Okla.

Velma and Robert moved to California, where they opened a supermarket with her younger sister, Mildred Dey. They moved to Cocolalla, Idaho, in 1965 and then in 1970, with her sister Mildred and her husband, Ray, they found their heaven on earth in Noxon, Mont., on their own "Lake Lata-wata," where she resided until her death with her family and friends at her side.

Velma is survived by her devoted and loving sister, Mildred "Millie" Dey, who is still living in their dream place in Noxon. She is additionally survived by eight nephews and nieces; many great-nephews and great-nieces; and loving friends. Velma was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Robert in 1990; two brothers and five sisters.

Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Coffelt Funeral Service of Sandpoint.