A love story for the ages
In the social networking world of Facebook, old friends surface. A few months ago I reconnected with Pat Giesa, now a longtime Michigan resident. He reads cdapress.com to keep up on his old hometown. A week or so ago he sent a message saying that he was coming home to do the unimaginable ... say goodbye to both of his parents, Bill and Margie Giesa. Until last week I hadn't seen Pat for at least four decades. If the truth be told there was a bit of a schoolgirl crush on the older boy from IHM back in the day ... the kind that lasts a week or two. I met with Pat and his wife, Cheryl, and grown children John and Elli at The Coeur d'Alene Resort for a brief reunion and to hear about a love story for the ages.
Bill and Margie (Gridley) Giesa were native Idahoans, he born in Potlatch in 1915, she in Coeur d'Alene in 1918. They married in 1942 - and like the men of his generation, Bill went away to war, flying 50 missions in his B-24 Liberator over Romania. He came home and they raised four children and left their fingerprints in so much of what Coeur d'Alene was to become. Education, business, recreation, health care. They volunteered, they served and they gave.
Their health declining, at ages 94 and 91, respectively, Bill and Margie spent their last months of 68 years of marriage together at Beehive Homes in Coeur d'Alene. Late in the evening on Friday, March 12, with her daughter, Kathy Montgomery, by her side, Margie peacefully passed away. Four hours later, with his daughter's blessing, Bill joined Margie on the other side.
As Pat told the story of his parents' lives, loves and last days, I was reminded that there have been other Bills and Margies, too ... the people who grew our community. So many of us came later to enjoy what they created. A sense of community and of belonging, with a dash of hope for future generations. My hope is that we continue to cherish those with whom we share a history and do honor to the community we all love so much.
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Tonight at the Hot Rod Cafe Suzanna Spencer, chair of the Kootenai County Relay for Life, is joining in with the folks from Inland Northwest Bank to raise money for
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the American Cancer Society. From 6-8 p.m. wait staff and bartenders will be some familiar faces from the bank's Post Falls and Hayden branches. Joining Suzanna will be fellow branch manager Kandi Johnson and commercial lenders Ron Jacobson and Don Maryon. Rumor has it that Ron and Don have been studying the Tom Cruise classic, "Cocktail" for inspiration. Should be a good time for a good cause.
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Tomorrow the father and son duo of Mike and Alexander Carle will celebrate their special shared birthdate, along with Jame Davis. Nancy Noordam and Jackie Sharp have March 26 birthdays and on Saturday Sharon Erickson will blow out her candles on the hillside and longtime florist John Eilmes will no doubt have beautiful flowers for his 81st birthday. Sunday is the big day for Barb Forgacs and Page Hibbs. Bob Koep and Mary Hawkins start out the work week with Monday birthdays and my favorite local artist, Steve Scroggens turns 60 on Tuesday!
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THERE'S MORE: New stories and photos almost every day at More Main Street. There's a link on the righthand rail for adding your birthday to the Main Street Birthday Club for 2010!
Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press. More Main Street blog is at http://moremainstreet.blogspot.com. Kerri can be reached at mainstreet@cdapress.com.