Nina M. Kotschevar

Nina Maxine (Hernvall) Kotschevar, 87, passed away Thursday evening, July 28, 2016, at Valley Vista in Sandpoint, Idaho. Rosary services for Nina will be conducted at 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 16, 2016, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Her Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, August 17, 2016, at 11 a.m. also at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church with Father Dennis C. Day officiating. Nina was born on May 27, 1929, in Newport, Washington. Her family lived at Priest Lake and she attended grade school in a one-room school house. After a tragic house fire, the family moved to Ponderay and Nina attended Bonner County schools graduating at the age of 16 from Sandpoint High School. Nina was always a hard-worker. She helped out the family by milking cows, haying, and tending a large family garden. Immediately after high school, Nina began working as an insurance secretary for Wray Farmin at Farmin Insurance Agency. While working there, she was introduced to Donald D. Kotschevar. She converted to his Catholic faith and they were married on July 15, 1952, at St. Joseph’s. Nina and Don had four children, Kris, Kathy, Patty, and Don. In the early sixties, Dale Lee and Leonard Mitchell, along with Nina, opened Sandpoint Insurance Agency. The business grew and so did the friendship among them and their families. She retired from Sandpoint Insurance in 1980. She and Don spent the next few years as caregivers to many Sandpoint children. As a busy career woman, Nina instilled in her children her strong work ethic – both on and off the job. She somehow managed to pay careful attention to their educations, making certain that they always attended religion classes, excelled at swimming lessons, learned to garden, and earned good grades. Those children all graduated from the University of Idaho and are strong swimmers! Nina was involved in several of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church activities. She was a founding member of the local Catholic Daughters of America chapter, also serving as their financial secretary for a number of years. She supported Don in his membership and various activities with the Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent DePaul Society. Together they helped run the food booths for the county fair and the annual horse show. Nina contributed countless homemade pies for the food booths and made many pots of soup for the church’s soup kitchen. Nina enjoyed her home and family on South Huron. She loved her yard and garden and was well-known for the beautiful flowers and vegetables that she grew. Nina liked to stay busy and enjoyed sewing, crocheting, knitting, canning, and cooking. Some of her other favorite pastimes were entertaining and cooking large family meals with the vegetables from her garden. She spent many hours with her husband fishing for bluebacks, picking huckleberries, and gathering mushrooms. Nina also appreciated her frequent travels and adventures with her sister, Ruth. Nina spent the last two years at Valley Vista. Nina’s family wishes to thank the staff at Valley Vista for the wonderful care they gave Nina during this time. Their care was professional, respectful, and kind. They went above and beyond to make her comfortable and happy. Their love for Nina was obvious to the family. Nina was preceded in death by her parents Jennie and Gus Hernvall, her husband Don, her brother Robert Hernvall, and her sister and life-long best friend, Ruth McBurney. She is survived by her children: Kris (Jack) Collison of Portland, Kathy (Randy) James of Sandpoint, Patty (David) Hurford of Creston BC, and Don (Gizelle) Kotschevar of Mullan. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Brian, Jim, Joey, Shelly, Jennie, Haley, Bobby, Kelsey, Donny, Andrew, Kortney, Sydney, Hunter, and 11 great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials be made to the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Soup Kitchen.