Valle Novak, 92

Valle Novak stepped into Heaven's eternal forest March 4, 2023, supported by the hand of her beloved Jesus and greeted by her parents, grandmothers, old friends and all the dear kitties and dogs that she had loved and cared for over her many years.

A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 16, at Lakeview Funeral Home in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Born Valle Joy Riesland on March 5, 1930, to Grant and Iva Riesland in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. She spent her first six years in Chilco, where as an only child, she learned to love nature from her outdoorsman father. As was the case in many country communities, she began school at the age of 5 in a classroom that served studies through sixth grade. Exposed to the information being taught the older students, she absorbed historical knowledge, vocabulary and learned to read proficiently by the end of the school year.

At age 6, the family moved to Coeur d'Alene, where she attended Bryan School, Coeur d'Alene Junior High and Coeur d'Alene High School, graduating in 1947. She then attended North Idaho Jr. College, graduating in 1949 with an associate's degree in journalism, and completed her junior year off-campus with the University of Idaho.

She was a member of Phi Rho Pi (speech honorary) and Delta Psi Omega (drama honorary). During her in-town years, she worked at the Coeur d'Alene Press, first as a proofreader, later as a general reporter and ultimately as the society editor.

In 1950, she married Edgar Shields, with whom she had five children: Paul, Diane, Grant, Shelley and Keith. They divorced in 1961. She married Glen Letting in 1963 and, though it ended in divorce, brought about the blessing of her third daughter, (Laurie) Olivia Rue, who completed Valle's wish for six children with all of the girls having their own big brother.

During her years in Coeur d'Alene, she was active in the community as a member of Collegiate Toastmistresses; Rho Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, where she received the Woman of the Year Award for establishing a new chapter of the sorority in Kellogg; and was active in forming the food bank. Since she had enjoyed Campfire Girls as a young girl, she became involved with the organization and established and became Leader of a group of third graders at the Academy of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, teaching them the fun and arts of outdoor life, camping, canoeing, camp-cooking and swimming. She served as camp counselor at the CFG camp on Lake Coeur d'Alene. She mentored "her girls" for 10 delightful years, through their high school graduation.

In the mid-'60s, single and needing to support her children, Valle applied for and got the job as public relations director for the United Crusade of Spokane County, headquartered in Spokane. The family moved to Spokane and the children all entered school there. She spent 10 years in Spokane, five of them as a writer for the then-new KSPS TV, Channel 7, the final four as writer of the complete instruction books for Old National Bank (no computers back then).

The kids pretty much grown up and gone, she moved to Hauser Lake in 1971 with her final husband, Richard Novak. Their divorce five years later determined some complete life changes, one aspect of which was that she never dated again. In 1980, she moved to the Sandpoint area, purchasing a log home on 5 acres on Smith Creek off Wrenco Loop Road. In 1983, she saw an ad in the Daily Bee for a feature writer, applied and was given the job.

After 13 years, she semi-retired at age 66, and spent the next decade in world travel, her lifelong desire. She explored such sites as Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, Hawaii and, after falling in love with London (and England in general), made that the site for many visits often with groups which she hosted in historical and adventure tours.

Valle is survived by her six children, E. Paul Shields of Liberty Lake, Wash., Diane Shields-Bafus of Arizona; Grant Shields (Becky), Kodiak, Alaska, Shelley Jean (Ray) Allen of Arizona, Keith (Brenda) Shields of Liberty Lake, and Olivia Rue of Sandpoint. She is also survived by six grandchildren, Jordan Thompson of Montana; Amber (Jeremy) Morelock of Bullhead City, Ariz., Valerie Johnson of Post Falls, Idaho, Alexis Allen of Seattle, Wash., Jake Shields of Kodiak, and Jessica Shields of Kodiak; and five great-grandchildren, Cody (Ciara) Allen of Utah, and Valerie's daughters, Lana, Taylor, Torrence and Primrose.