Laura 'Irene' Mavity, 89
A celebration of the life of Laura “Irene” Mavity will be held Sunday, June 29, 2008, beginning with a 1 p.m. graveside service at Pinecrest Cemetery followed immediately by a potluck gathering and slideshow at the new Dover City Hall.
At her request, the service will be held outside when the flowers are in bloom and overlooking the mountains and lake she grew up exploring.
Irene passed away on Jan. 3, 2008, surrounded by her family at her home after a long struggle with cancer. She lived a full, active life right up to the last month of her life — and more than three years longer than doctors had projected.
In her last weeks, she was tended by her daughter, Carolyn Crossett; her son, Dr. Neil Mavity; and family who gathered at her house throughout the holidays, fulfilling her wish to have Christmas at home with her loved ones.
She was born Feb. 21, 1918, at Guide Rock, Neb., to LaRue and Edith Williams. In 1926, her father and uncle came west to Dover, Idaho, to start a farm.
She, along with her mother, sisters, aunt, and cousins, arrived in Sandpoint by train in the winter of that year where they were met and transported to their new home by horse-drawn sleigh.
She attended grade school at the timber community of Dover at what seemed to her a big school during the boom days of the ’20s. She lived through the Great Depression on the family seed potato farm, where they often offered meals in trade for help to the numerous unemployed of the time.
She was fond of grange hall dances, 4-H, gardening, and most things outdoors.
She graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1936 and began work as a dental assistant when she found she did not weigh enough to get into nursing school.
In 1937, she met Donald A. Mavity at a dance at Oden Hall. Don invited her sailing on Lake Pend Oreille, and she said “we just kept on sailing the rest of our lives.”
They married on Jan. 25, 1939, and built their first house in Sandpoint. The couple skied at the rope tow on Pine Street and later at the new ski resorts at Mt. Spokane and Schweitzer.
They could also be found snowshoeing, climbing nearby Breadloaf, skating on the river, and fishing the local lakes and streams. Their love of the outdoors lasted their entire lives.
During World War II, Don worked to construct Faragut Naval Station and then moved to Geiger field to rig military aircraft.
She gave birth to daughter, Carolyn, at Sandpoint in 1941 and son, Neil, in 1943 before moving to military housing in Garden Springs at Spokane, Wash.
She worked at the Cresent Department Store, and they built a house and raised their children in Spokane. They also built a lake cabin at Hayden Lake which served as a family gathering place and venue for generations of bonfires, fishing, and boating, cribbage and “having fun whether we want to or not.”
She remained a self-professed “Farmer John” for life and loved to garden. She founded the Aboretts Garden Club as a charter member. She maintained her flower-filled yard like an arboretum and grew a garden to be envied — right through her last summer. In her late 80s, she could still work most people into the ground.
When Don passed away in 1983, she studied photography and traveled extensively to Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Alaska and across the United States.
Her family was always the most important part of her life and, with a quiet, gentle strength; she was the cornerstone of theirs.
She always had room for “one more” at the table. And she was “Grandma” to nearly everyone.
She loved life and fully lived each day. She laughed hard from deep inside. She listened carefully. She loved deeply. She spread beauty and kindness. And her smile brightened lives. She will be greatly missed and lovingly remembered.
She is preceded in passing by her parents, Edith and LaRue; her husband, Don; her sister Mae Stevens; and her brother, Donald Williams.
She was followed in passing by her son, Neil Mavity, just three weeks after her own passing.
She is survived by her sister, Wilda Gontz of Pullman, Wash.; her daughter, Carolyn (Jerry) Crossett of Spokane County, Wash.; her daughter-in-law, Connie Mavity of St. Maries, Idaho; grandchildren: Todd (Debbie) Crossett of Cocolalla, Idaho; Cory (Johanna) Crossett of Juneau, Alaska; Dusty (Clinton) Boone of Kellogg, Idaho; and Emily Mavity of St. Maries; and great-grandchildren: Sandra, Story, Liam, and Esmé Crossett and Colter Boone.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Spokane, PO Box 2215, Spokane, Wash., 99210. The family would like to thank Dover Mayor Randy Curless and the Dover City Council.