Lois Jean Gee

Lois Jean Gee, 76, passed away on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 in Sandpoint, Idaho. Services will be held at 1:00 pm, Friday, December 29, 2006 at Coffelt’s Funeral Chapel, 109 N. Division, Sandpoint, Idaho with Chaplain Paul Graves officiating. Interment will be at Pinecrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Sandpoint, Idaho. Lois was born on March 21, 1930, in Augusta, Montana the daughter of Louis and Lula (Goss) Hoffman. Growing up in a large family of five sisters and two brothers made for many fond memories and some lively get-togethers later in life as families gathered for various occasions. In about 1940 her family moved to Whitefish, Mt. where Lois attended high school and also worked as a nurse’s aide at the hospital. On April 14, 1950, in Polson, Mt., Lois married the love of her life, William J. “Bill” Gee, who worked for the Great Northern Railroad. Lois and Bill were married for 53 wonderful years and raised three boys: Bill, Ken and Russ. Bill, Sr. passed away on Memorial day, May 26, 2003. Lois, deeply saddened, showed her immense strength by forging ahead and being the thoughtful, caring, loving, generous mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt she always had been. The ever-faithful wife and mother, Lois followed her husband to sometimes isolated places as he worked on the railroad. From the prairie of Glendive, Mt. to the sometimes snowbound-climes of Summit, Mt., she persevered, raising her two oldest boys, Bill and Ken. While making sure the whole family was healthy, well-fed and clean. Even snow depths up over the eaves of the house did not shrink her from her duty to family. Two active boys wanted to go outside no matter the weather, so Lois bundle them up and fashioned masks out of an old pair of tweed pants Bill Sr. no longer needed. Out they’d go, and shortly come back, as the cold quickly changed the fickle minds of the boys. Later they moved to Bonners Ferry, Id. and then on to Sandpoint, Id. in 1961. Their youngest son, Russ, was born there in 1962 and that is where the family’s roots grew. Russ remembers many day picnics with mom along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille before he became school-age. Besides many great family vacations and tent camping with the boys, Lois and Bill later enjoyed many trips camping in their fifth-wheel at places like Robinson and Priest Lakes in northern Idaho. They both loved fishing and she was known to occasionally outfish Bill. She enjoyed meeting other campers and sharing conversation and a cup of coffee around the evening campfire. Lois is survived by her three boys, Bill and wife Peggy of Newport, Wa.; Ken of Sandpoint, Id.; and Russ and wife Brenda of Lewiston, Id. Also surviving are sisters Gloria Gregg and Betty Sagen of Whitefish, Mt., brother Jim Hoffman of Edmonds, Wa., five grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. Lois was preceded in death by her parents, husband, sisters Fern Kaber, Dorothy Thompson, and Joanne Wolfe and a brother Pat Hoffman.