Martha Lee 'Jo' Gillard
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| October 8, 1922 ~
August 19, 2011 |
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August 19, 2011 |
 Jo
Gillard passed away on August 19, 2011, in Mt.
Vernon, Washington. There will be a graveside
service at 2 p.m. Saturday, August 27, at
Grandview Cemetery in Bonners Ferry.
Martha Lee “Jo” was born October 8, 1922, to
William and Myrtle Caughey in Twin Falls, Idaho.
She joined her older sisters Carlene and Cleora.
Her older brother Neal died at age two. Billie
Jean, who was born two years after Mom, died of
sleeping sickness at age six. They moved to
Bonners Ferry, where she enjoyed her childhood
living near the Busy Bee School with her family.
She met the love of her life, Cliff Gillard, in
Bonners Ferry High School and the fun has not
stopped for nearly 70 years. They celebrated 68
years of marriage on June 1. Their life was
always filled with hard work and adventure. They
loved to ride motorcycles, travel in their
pickup and later the motor home, camp and all of
the family outings at Herman Lake.
During their courtship, a typical Saturday would
involve Dad riding his bicycle from Cow Creek to
her house near the Busy Bee School. There she
would ride the cross bar to town to see a
matinee at the Rex Theatre and then back home.
Then Dad would show her off by riding up and
down Main Street on the bike. Grandpa Caughey
asked dad to not do that and ride the back
roads. Sorry Grandpa, she was too cute for
that!! And Mom, really, 12 miles on a bicycle
cross bar?? It HAD to be love!!! And Dad, you
must have been in a lot better shape than now,
huh?
They also loved to square dance and round dance
and were very active with the Kootenai Kloggers
square dance club. Mom always had the cutest
dresses and made sure Dad had a shirt to match.
It was here they met their lifelong friends,
Madge and Don Roberts, Betty and Lee Galbraith
and Ray and Erma Merrifield.
Together, they built their business, Kootenai
Kustom Body Shop, at the current site of
Oriental Gardens Restaurant, until they retired
in 1985. Mom was the head sander, masker, paint
mixer and loved to work on the cars as much as
Dad did. They worked in half of the shop while
they lived in the other half with their young
daughters Ronnee and Diana. The business began
to grow and Grandpa Caughey built the “fancy”
house next door. Once they moved into the house,
they encountered another surprise. Tanjer, their
son, was born.
As we grew as a family, we all became involved
in 4H. Mom was very involved leading a lot of
cooking meetings at our house and rooting them
on. Most of the time, the results were good, but
sometimes things didn’t always turned out as
planned. Thank goodness she was patient with all
of the kids.
One of our favorite memories of Mom was that she
could out belch and arm wrestle all of Tanjer’s
friends. They were amazed and so were we. Sorry
Mom, we had to let people know that!!
After retirement and traveling, Mom and Dad
became regulars at the casino playing the penny
slots. Their favorite was Kenny Rogers and
Easter Island. They made many friends there and
enjoyed visiting even more than playing the
slots. They also enjoyed Bingo at the Senior
Center. They sold the shop to Walt and Kim Nue
and watched it transform into the Oriental
Gardens Restaurant. Once the restaurant opened,
a new chapter of their lives opened up. We are
still not sure who adopted who, but it was clear
that Kim and Walt were the “new kids” of our
family. It was much more than friendship, and it
brought huge happiness to all of us.
Mom loved and enjoyed her family and her
grandsons and their families: Darin with wife
Heidi and son Mathias, Tony with wife Jen and
kids Zoe and Zak, and Shawn.
Mom, thanks so much for teaching us how to cook,
clean, sew, work hard, give more than you ask in
return, watch over others, give the benefit of
the doubt, make fun out of nothing, laugh at
ourselves but more than anything live and love.
Our lives were molded by her many talents. She
will be greatly missed.
There will never be a day when she is not
remembered.
You will live on in our hearts and memories
forever. We will never say goodbye, just ‘see
you later,’ as we will be together again. So,
save us a good spot upstairs and enjoy your time
with your family until we arrive.
Family and friends are invited to sign Jo’s book
at
www.bonnersferryfuneralhome.com.
Arrangements are entrusted to the care of
Bonners Ferry Funeral Home.
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