Essie McConnaughey

A memorial service will be held for Essie McConnaughey at 1 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2008, at the Sandpoint United Methodist Church, 711 Main St.

She was born to Ethel and John L. Martin on Sept. 6, 1917, in Leesville, La. In 1947, Harlow and Essie McConnaughey, along with Harlan and Margaret Walker, purchased Talache Lodge on Lake Pend Oreille. The family resided in Talache until 1951 and then relocated to Sandpoint, where they raised seven children.

Essie was employed with the U.S. Forest Service in Sandpoint from 1953 until her transfer to Washington, D.C., in 1970 and retired from the Civil Service Commission in 1985.

She is survived by a brother, Tom Martin, Vancouver, Wash.; seven children, Terry McConnaughey of Sandpoint, Bud McConnaughey of Bonners Ferry, Gaye Bloxom of Hayden Lake, Helen Haney of Seattle, Victoria Whipple of Phoenix, Susan Hedeen of Chantilly, Va., and Brian McConnaughey of Arlington, Va. She also is survived by 13 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. A memorial marker with her name on it will be placed at Pinecrest Cemetery.