Hilde Kellogg, 92

Hilde Kellogg was born on Oct. 17, 1918, to Adolf F. Thute and Anna Elizabeth (Dell) Thute, the second-born of their five children, in Scottsbluff, Neb. Her childhood years were spent in western Nebraska.

During the Great Depression, the family was moving to Green Bay, Wisc., on the promise of a job for her father when the car broke down in Grand Island, Neb. Grand Island became her new hometown, and she graduated from Grand Island Senior High School in 1935.

She worked as a dental assistant for several years in Grand Island. She moved to Omaha during World War II, and took a job with a construction company involved with the Army in building the ALCAN highway. She was stationed in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, working in the personnel office.

Following her return to Grand Island, she eventually came to North Idaho in the early 1950s, and with her husband, Jack Kellogg, established the Bar-B-Q Ranch gift shop. The store, located on Highway 10 (Seltice Way ) and Idaho Street, was a landmark with the giant cowboy and fiberglass animals on the roof, and evolved into a leading western wear store and was well-known throughout the 1960s and ‘70s.

After her husband's death in 1965, she became involved in real estate and worked with a developer to create two subdivisions in north Post Falls on property her husband had purchased before his death. She also owned two beauty salons in Post Falls, mainly the Golden Mirror. Her community service began in the ‘70s with her appointment to the Post Falls Planning and Zoning Commission. She was then elected to the Post Falls City Council. She continued to serve on the P & Z Commission after an unsuccessful bid for mayor.

Although she had voted Republican all her life, in 1982 she was contacted by the Kootenai County Democrats after they could not come up with a candidate within their own party for the Idaho House of Representatives. She agreed to run on the Democratic ticket because she could not support the Republican candidate that year. She switched to the Republican ticket the next term, and served a total of 10 terms in the House, losing only once in 1990.

She retired from the House at the end of her term in 2004. At the instigation of her successor, Bob Nonini, the House honored her with a proclamation in 2005, naming Feb. 18, 2005, as Hilde Kellogg Day and recognizing her career in the legislature.

She was a member of the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce, serving as president more than once, was named Citizen of the Year in 2001, and was the first female member of the Post Falls Kiwanis. She served on many boards including Jobs Plus, NIC Foundation, Kootenai YMCA, and others. The city of Post Falls honored her last year by naming the park on Idaho Street and 21st "Hilde Kellogg Park," in recognition of her years of public service.

She was a member of St. George's Catholic Church in Post Falls. She had no children.

She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; her older brother, Richard Thute of Sacramento, Calif.; and her younger brother, William Thute of Phoenix, Ariz.

She is survived by her two sisters, Helen Margetic, Plainfield, Ill., and Betty Garrett, Post Falls, as well as four nieces and two nephews. She is also survived by close friends, Randy and Annette Wells, of Athol; Richard Thomas of Post Falls; Ray and Pat Walker of Otis Orchards, Wash.; and a special niece-by-marriage, Laura Morris of Topeka, Kan.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to your favorite charity.

A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010, at St. George's Catholic Church in Post Falls. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery and reception will follow back at St. George's.

Please sign Hilde's guest registry and view her online memorial at www.englishfuneralchapel.com.