Edith Pearl Bollacker, 93
Edith Pearl Bollacker, 93, of Sagle, Idaho, decided to continue her soul’s journey on Nov. 21, 2016.
Daughter of James Arthur Williams and Violet Terrell Williams, she was born on Sept. 25, 1923, in Denver, Colo. She grew up in Arvada, Colo., where she worked to put herself through high school and after graduation immediately began working to help support her widowed mother and herself.
After the war, she met her life partner, Robert (Bob) Dale Bollacker, whom she married on March 12, 1947. After their stint at dust bowl farming in Ordway, Colo., she took on the role of an Air Force officer’s wife when Bob re-entered military service. She raised their family in various duty stations around the U.S. She believed that home was where the family was living and created that home in fact and loving spirit often centered around family mealtimes and activities.
In 1969, Bob and Edith retired to Sandpoint/Sagle, where she created family homes from houses she helped design. She also loved being the family accountant who used her business training to keep exact figures for family and tree farming accounts. Her love of business led her to complete tax preparation classes and earn real estate sales license. She relished being audited by the IRS so she could show her meticulously machine-totaled tapes, receipts and other documentation. The audit took a couple of hours, everything was correctly done; the IRS never bothered her again.
Edith will be remembered for being a loving wife, mother and grandmother, a gracious hostess, and friendly to everyone. She believed in and lived a life of integrity, honesty and caring for others. She had a unique ability to meet a stranger who subsequently became a friend within a few minutes during which she had learned much of their life’s story. For many years, she was Grey Lady who helped people in hospitals and at blood drives, including eagerly awaited trays of many kinds of Christmas cookies every year. She shared her love of gardening and plants with many. Her children and grandchildren remember walks in the woods where she could name wildflowers, shrubs, and mushrooms; any time a new one was found, out came the plant identification books. Edith was a lady in manners and dress, but one who also loved sports, vocally rooted for her favorite teams and could throw a beautiful spiral with a football. Her children recall her piercing whistle that could be heard from blocks away and was an absolute signal to go home.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, Bob Bollacker; and a brother, Arthur. Edith is survived by a daughter, Linell of Spring Creek, Nev.; a son, Thomas of Sagle, Idaho; her grandchildren, Patricia Contreras (Javier), Lorell Duteil (Jason), Terrell Dobis (Jason), Robert ( Brandi), Jackie Rogers (James), and Thomas and Denise Davidson; plus 15 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life gathering for family and friends will be held at her home next spring.
Family and friends are invited to sign Edith’s online guest book at www.coffeltfuneral.com.
Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Coffelt Funeral Service.