'Full of life'

POST FALLS - Bobbi Rollins had a passion for making Post Falls a vibrant community.

A celebration of life for Rollins, who served on the Post Falls Urban Renewal Commission since 2006 until her death last Saturday, will be held on Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 501 E. Wallace Ave., Coeur d'Alene.

Urban renewal colleagues said Rollins was recently diagnosed with cancer and had treatment. They said she initially was doing well after the treatment, before returning to the hospital. Rollins was 70.

"I worked with Bobbi for the past five years on the commission and always found her to be looking for ways to make things better," said Tom Lien, executive director of the Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency. "She was not only passionate about her involvement with urban renewal, but also her other activities."

Lien said "full of life" is a common way folks say they'll remember Rollins.

Rollins was appointed to the urban renewal commission in October 2006 and served as chairwoman for the past four years. Her term ends December 2017.

Urban renewal agencies create districts in areas that are prime for development and fund infrastructure projects to spark jobs and construction. With such districts, incremental taxes that are paid based on the higher assessed values after development are remitted to the agency and are, in turn, paid to the proponent or developer for the cost of infrastructure to improve the district.

Jerry Baltzell, the commission's vice-chairman, will serve as interim chairman until a new chairperson is elected in the near future.

Rollins, a Post Falls resident since 1998, served on several boards, including chambers of commerce, church, golf and business entities. She was involved with Camp Cross, an Episcopal church camp on Lake Coeur d'Alene, and enjoyed golf and music.

Rollins attended college at Oregon State University and the University of Idaho before joining Sterling Codifiers, a family-owned business that she later owned and operated for 41 years. The firm reviews and organizes ordinances for city and county governments in several states.

Lien said Rollins never lacked for comments beginning with "What if we..."

"Sharing ideas and asking for other ideas and opinions was her way," Lien said.

Baltzell said Rollins' death was a shock to the urban renewal agency. He said he'll remember Rollins as a woman who always had a smile on her face.

"She was always positive and upbeat," Baltzell said. "She was a pleasure to work with, loved her community and worked hard to do what was right for Post Falls and its citizens."

Larry Carstensen, an urban renewal commissioner, said Rollins was always complimentary of other people's strengths.

He was impressed when Rollins stepped forward to be the chairwoman of the commission at a time when a lot of questions about urban renewal were being asked statewide.

"I wouldn't have wanted to step into that role, but she did and did a great job," Carstensen said.