Eddie Donald Jerome, 72

Eddie Donald Jerome, left this Earth on July 5, 2012, after a long, debilitating illness. His death was attributed to complications from diabetes.

Born on Feb. 27, 1940, at the family farm in the Cougar Gulch area of Coeur d’Alene, Eddie was a twin. He spent almost his whole life thinking he was the second born. He was 65 years old before he found out he had actually beat his brother into this world by 10 minutes. Ironically, he suffered a great deal of abuse by a father who wasn’t prepared for the birth of two children at the same time. Before he reached the age of 12, Eddie was sent out on his own, and had to fend for himself. He spent the next six years living with anyone who would take him in. For that, he was always grateful to the Wicks, the Dahlberg and the Shriner families.

During his teens, he had a brief marriage that ended in divorce. He later married Laurel “Lolly” Stoneman, and they reached their milestone 50th anniversary on March 3, 2011.

Eddie worked most of his life in local lumber mills, including the old Northwest Timber mill. He did many jobs in the mills, but enjoyed his position of lumber grader the most. When the mill closed its doors in 1990, the last board to come off the planer was autographed by Eddie and some of the other men who worked the last shift. That board became an exhibit at the Museum of North Idaho.

Fishing, backpacking and camping were his greatest passions. He would drive 300 miles, and hike 16 miles into the backcountry, just to fish his favorite lakes. Eddie had many, many fun camping trips with his family and friends. Whenever they loaded the truck for their adventures, one would have thought they were moving away for good, with the amount of gear they took with them. He’d say, “We have to take it, because we might need it.” Eddie is survived by his wife, Lolly, and their three children: daughters, Justine Jerome of Coeur d’Alene and Laurie (Jim) Lafferty of Robertson, Wyo., and a son, Eric (Brenna) Jerome of Coeur d’Alene. He was very proud of his two grandsons, Korey (Caitlin) Johnson and Casey Johnson; and great-grandchildren, Lydia Johnson and Vincent Johnson. Eddie is also survived by his mother, Leona Davidson of Spokane; “younger” twin brother, Oddie Jerome Jr. of Monmouth, Ore.; sister Penny (Bill) Stovall of Golden Valley, Ariz.; brother Rick Frostad of Spokane; and by numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Eddie was preceded in death by his father, Oddie Jerome Sr. and by a younger brother, Man/in Jerome.

Not to be forgotten, Eddie is also survived by his longtime friend and fishing buddy, Ned Satterlee of Coeur d’Alene. Many of their adventures turned out to be cases of “the blind leading the blind.” There’s no telling how many hours or miles they hiked…often getting lost in the backcountry of Idaho and Montana. Eddie usually claimed to have outfished Ned. But, he always said that no one could out hike Ned. Ned would hit the trail, and be at the lake and have camp set up, and the coffee brewing before Eddie ever caught up with him. I’m sure that when the time comes, Eddie will have camp set up, and a cup of hot coffee waiting for Ned, in that happy camping spot in the sky.

We would like to thank Dr. Wester and Dr. Mieike, and the staff of Lacrosse Health & Rehab for taking such good care of Eddie.