Rae Ahner, 76
A final toast to Rae Ahner
We say cheers to Rae Ahner and her enormous life of adventures. Rae loved great wine and amazing foods, and she got to enjoy her lifelong dream of spending two weeks in Tuscany, Italy, for her 70th birthday. Most know Rae as the winery gal at Pend d’Oreille Winery, which she was a part of for 10 years, but that was her retirement plan. Some never knew she ran her own businesses prior to and within the same timeline. Rae started up and ran her own hair salon for 40 years. She fell in love with learning everything food in the early 1990s and went from a food student to a teacher offering cooking classes in her home. Rae catered many weddings and any event that needed fancy foods. (Which she believed was all events!)
Rae spent her life filling it with people, there was rarely a holiday that wasn’t full of 30 or more people at her house. For years, she offered an appetizer full Christmas Eve Day for all those that were without a local family to spend the holidays with. Her house was full of decorations for all holidays, and she may be the only one who had hundreds of pictures of perfectly set tables ready for guests to enjoy. Rae could often be found in her garden with a headlamp light because “the sun went down too quickly.”
Rae fell in love with Dale; the two of them raised their own children and numerous other children. Then he brought her to his hometown of Sandpoint where they retired and enjoyed their later years of life. Inviting and hosting a plethora of friends and family, there was always “room at the Inn,” as they often said. It was a rare occasion to be at the Ahner house without a handful of others enjoying the same vacation.
Rae was full of love, life and loyalty. She will be missed, but thankfully, she took thousands of pictures for all those left behind to wander through the memories of days gone by, actual photo albums that go back to the 1950s. So, to Rae, this writer says, “Thank you for the best life any daughter could ask for. Thank you for showing me what love is for your spouse and for your family. And mostly, thank you for leaving the legacy of expectations: those that lead to success and happiness through hard work, dedication and mercy.”
So many have shared a glass of awesome wine and a dish of phenomenal food with Rae, please do so now in honor of her soul. She has asked for no funeral services and therefore, this writer will obey.
Cheers, Rae! May you garden the finest garden. May you taste the finest wine. May you be served the fanciest of foods and for God’s sake, may you dance with Dale for eternity.
