Tenar Jill April Woodring

Tenar Woodring — wife, forestry technician, timber cruiser, U.S.A.C.E park ranger, I.T.M.I. certified tour director, outdoor enthusiast, and graduate of Penn State University — died at her home on Monday, May 10, 2010.

Tenar was born in Allentown, Pa., where through her early life, along with continued education, crafted a lifelong courtship and fascination with the “unrestricted” bucolic outdoor surroundings … this was her first love, the mountains … and Glacier National Park in particular.

Tenar attended Endicott College for social sciences, and continued her education to receive a bachelor’s degree in recreation and parks along with a minor in plant sciences from Penn State University.

Her early journeys in career included working with the National Park Service (Sandy Hook, N.J.), teaching / counseling (Bear Mountain, N.Y., Stone Valley, Pa.), Audubon Society (Sharon, Conn.), and Junior Achievement (Whitehall, Pa.), where she also led a Girl Scout troop in her hometown of Allentown, Pa.

In the early 1980s, opportunity knocked, and Tenar made the trek West to further develop her skills as a forestry technician in Oakridge, Ore. Her duties here further expanded into fighting forest fires; in addition she volunteered as a recreation aid for the Park Service.

In nearby Bend, she worked at Mt. Bachelor Ski Area, where in 1983 she met the love of her life, Steve Timian. Her stint in Oregon continued a unification between her education and her love for the outdoors, along with a newly seeded passion for skiing, eventually steering the couple to Sun Valley, Idaho, in 1984.

In 1986, Tenar moved to Sandpoint, Idaho, for the natural beauty, pursuit of her outdoor hobbies, and the close proximity to backpacking in Glacier.

Here, she and Steve were married on Aug. 20, 1988, and later bought their home on Shingle Mill Road where Tenar, a Master Gardener, artfully crafted and maintained her beautiful planted sanctuary.

In Sandpoint, we have known Tenar to wear many varied and sundry hats, including involvement with local plant nurseries, floral design, the Welcome Wagon, mystery shopper, shipping clerk, work with the mentally disabled, copious gardening and meticulous landscaping.

In 1988, she contracted with the Forest Service, became a certified timber cruiser and battled the fires on the Green Monarchs, through 1992 when she became employed by the U.S. Army Corps at Albeni Falls.  A few years later, she secured a position as an I.T.M.I certified tour director/planner — which many say she was naturally “born to do.” Planning, directing and leading tours, literally by planes, trains and automobiles (actually motor coaches) allowed Tenar the opportunity to continue her exploration of the national parks and natural wonders of both the U.S. and Canada.

This assignment and charge furthermore authorized her abilities to convey and express her allure to the beauty and admiration of our precious natural surroundings to others — to again teach. She called her company Pika Tours — “Tours with Nature in Mind”

Her husband, Steve Timian of Sandpoint; her father, Richard Woodrin of Deland, Fla.; and her brother, Gerald Woodring of Sunnyvale, Calif.; survive her. Her mother Betty Woodring of Deland, Fla., preceded her in death.

“We are all, in some sense mountaineers, and going to the mountains is going home” - John Muir — an intimate quote, true to Tenar’s heart, and from a certain point of view her doctrine of faith.

Tenar will be vastly missed by all whose lives she has touched … remember her when you journey to the mountains.

A celebration of her life is planned on Friday, June 4, 2010, at Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S First Avenue from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.