Helen Anna Williams, 101

Helen Anna Williams, 101, of Kootenai, Idaho, the daughter of homesteaders Ole and Mary Peterson passed away on Friday, April 29, 2016, at her home.

Rosary services will be conducted at 7 p.m. Monday, May 2, 2016, at Coffelt’s Funeral Service with Father Dennis C. Day, of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, officiating.

Mass of Christian Burial will be conducted at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at St. Joseph’s Catholic with Father Day officiating.

Helen was born on July 5, 1914; her arrival, as the story goes, was hastened by a barn dance at the family farm in Oden Bay.

Helen’s father Ole was born in Oslo, Norway in 1869 and was brought to America at the age of 3. At 16, he came west as a hunter for the Northern Pacific construction crews, settling in Oden in 1887 where the old tracks then ran through his homestead.

In 1898, he married Mary Bartel who was born in Chicago, Ill., in 1880, the daughter of German immigrants.

Helen was the next to the last of five children, Mary, Rose, Harold, and Howard, all preceded her in death.

Helen’s childhood on the farm was filled with rich pastoral experiences in early Bonner County. As a young girl, she went to the one room Sunnyside School, often riding the mile-long distance on the family race horse, Cannonball.

She was married Nov. 1, 1931, to Fred McNair Williams, originally from Louisiana, who came north drawn to the area for its hunting and fishing.

Soon after they rented a small house in Kootenai for $5 a month, later buying it for $90 at a sheriff’s sale. Helen has lived there in the same house ever since.

Helen and Fred had five children, Fred Jr., Lyle, Helen, Jerry, and David. Helen was preceded in death by her husband, Fred; sons, Jerry and Fred Jr.; and daughter, Helen.

She is survived by two sons, Lyle and David; two daughters-in-law, Donna and Linda; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Helen enjoyed life and took each day with the same measure of joy. She loved family gatherings and working in her garden, as well as boat outings on Lake Pend Oreille and the annual family camping trips on Big Lightning Creek. Later in life she and her husband enjoyed hunting and fishing trips in Alberta, and the Great Slave Lake region.

As a part of a different time and a small local society, she maintained her honest simplicity.

Helen radiated love and caring and will be missed by family and those who knew her.

Family and friends are invited to sign Helen’s online guest book at www.coffeltfuneral.com.

Arrangements are under the direction of Coffelt Funeral Service of Sandpoint.