Louanne Jo Daarstad

Louanne Jo Daarstad passed away peacefully on Oct. 16, 2008, with her family by her side after a brief struggle with cancer and pneumonia.

Louanne was born on Jan. 22, 1932, in Kansas City, Mo., the daughter of Wanda and Joseph Frye.

After her parents divorced, she and her mom moved to California in 1944. They lived in Temple City, a suburb of Los Angeles. Louanne attended Woodrow Wilson Jr. High School in Pasadena and then  Pasadena City College, where she graduated in 1950.

She worked at the Southern California Gas Company in Los Angeles until 1956 when she moved to San Francisco and worked for the Container Corp. of America. The same year she decided she wanted to see a little more of the world and went to work as a civilian with the U.S. Army in Poitiers, France, and Verona, Italy.

Louanne took advantage of weekends and vacation time to travel and explore the rest of Europe. In 1960 she returned to the U.S. and started to work for the Houston Fearless Corp. and then Arthur Young and Co. in downtown Los Angeles.

On a ski trip to Aspen, Co. in Jan. 1963 she met Erik Daarstad. They fell in love and got married six months later on July 6, 1963. They decided to take up residence in Manhattan Beach, Calif. One month later Erik got an assignment with the Disney Co. filming a television program in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Louanne resigned from her job and joined Erik for three wonderful months living in a cabin surrounded by the beauty of the Grand Teton National Park.

When they returned to California, Louanne went to work for Space Technology Laboratories in Redondo Beach, where she worked until their first child, daughter Kari Ann, was born in February 1965. Louanne became a full-time stay-at-home mom because Erik's work required extensive travel around the U.S. and around the world.

They had two more children, a daughter, Heather Britt, and a son, Erik Even. Because Erik had free time between assignments, they always took their children on trips to many places around California as well as other states. Each summer they spent time at a wonderful old guest ranch in Aspen, Colo., where they and their children enjoyed horseback riding, fishing and hiking.

Because they loved Aspen the way it existed in the early '60s they planned to build a house and move there. However, in the late '60s Aspen started to change and they started to look at other options. Somebody in Aspen told them about this little town in northern Idaho called Sandpoint where there also was a ski area. They decided to check it out and after a couple of summer trips decided to give it a try. They bought an old farm in the middle of Wrenco Loop and moved there in June 1976. The children went to school here and Louanne and Erik became active members of the community.

In 1986 Erik was presented with an employment opportunity in Seattle and they packed up and moved, residing at first in Redmond and later in Bellevue. They enjoyed their 11 years there, but when Erik started to think about retirement they eventually decided to move back to Sandpoint. They built a house, one of the first in a new development called Northshore in south Sandpoint and their oldest daughter, Kari, decided to move back as well. Again they became active in the community. Louanne joined the Auxiliary as a volunteer at Bonner General Hospital and they became active supporters of Pend Oreille Arts Council, The Festival at Sandpoint as well as the Panida Theater.

Louanne and Erik were happily married for 45 years.

Louanne is survived by her husband, Erik; her three children, Kari Ann (Clay Saccomanno), Heather Britt (Dale Downey) and Erik Even (Stacey Daarstad); as well as her 11 grandchildren, Kendall, Sage, Nathan, True, Micah, Rory, Clara, Selah, Haley, Ethan and Jake.

She will be remembered as a very special individual, a loving wife and a wonderful and loving mother and grandmother. She will be sorely missed but the family will remember and treasure all the wonderful times and special moments throughout their life together. When Louanne was diagnosed with lung cancer a month ago, she expressed how good and rewarding her life had been.

Sometime this coming spring or summer there will be a celebration of her life at Kari and Clay's place near her old Wrenco Loop stomping grounds. Until then we invite you to an open house on Saturday, Nov. 1, between 2-5 p.m. at Erik and Louanne's residence, 1504 Northshore Dr., in Sandpoint. Please join us to visit with her family and honor her memory.

Louanne would love any donations in her memory to be made to the Community Cancer Services, P.O. Box 2213, Sandpoint, ID 83864 to help those who need help in battling this insidious disease.

Lakeview Funeral Home in Sandpoint is handling the arrangements. Please visit Louanne's online memorial at www.lakeviewfuneral.com and sign her guest book.