Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Vold Sands

Mary Elizabeth 'Betty' Vold Sands, a resident of Blanchard, ID, went to be with her Lord, August 16, 2009, at Rose Terrace Elder Care in Spirit Lake, ID. Funeral services were held in Bonners Ferry, August 21 with interment at the Parker Family Cemetery.

The daughter of Edward and Mary Parker Vold, she was born March 5, 1923, in the Cow Creek District of Boundary County, ID. She graduated as salutatorian from Bonners Ferry High School in 1940 then attended Lewiston State Normal School receiving her teaching certificate. She taught one year at Potlatch 10. Mary then worked at the Chicago Hotel in Spokane. During WWII, she worked at the Portland shipyards as a ship-fitter. She also worked with the Union Pacific Railroad as a telegraph operator in Spokane at the dispatchers' office doing daily car reports. She married Norvel R. Sands April 11, 1946 in Libby, MT. In 1949 they moved to Washington State University's Dry Land Experiment Station at Lind, WA where she worked as a secretary for several years. They continued to live at the Station until 1974 when they moved to Blanchard, ID. Mary is the author of The Taming of a Wilderness - Cow Creek the First Fifty Years, a history of that district in Boundary County, ID. She also wrote and edited parts of the History of Boundary County published in 1987. Mary loved quilting and genealogy. She devoted 52 years to caring for her handicapped son, Roger.

Mary is survived by Carol (Don) Taylor, Roger (Helen) Sands of Blanchard, ID, and granddaughter, Crystal Dawn (Glen) Means, of Peru, IN. She was preceded in death by her parents - Edward and Mary Vold, husband, Norvel, two grandchildren and two sisters.