Helen Anna Williams

Helen Anna Williams, 101 of Kootenai, the daughter of homesteaders Ole and Mary Peterson passed away on Friday, April 29, 2016 at her home. Rosary services will be conducted 7:00PM, Monday, May 2, 2016 at Coffelt’s Funeral Service with Father Dennis C. Day, of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, officiating. The Mass of Christian Burial will be conducted 11:00AM, Tuesday, May 3, 2016 at St. Joseph’s Catholic with Father Day officiating. Interment will follow in Pinecrest Memorial Park. 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 in 1880, the daughter of German immigrants. Helen was the next to the last of 5 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 dollars a month, later buying it for $90.00 at a sheriff’s sale. Helen has lived there in the same house ever since. Helen and Fred had 5 children, Fred Jr., Lyle, Helen, Jerry, and David. Helen was preceded in death by her husband, Fred, sons: Jerry, 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 Pend Oreille Lake 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.