Katherine Anna Freda Emtman, 105
Our beloved mother and grandmother, Katherine Anna Freda Emtman, of Coeur d’Alene, passed away in her sleep on Oct. 21, 2015, two days before her 106th birthday. She was born Oct. 23, 1909, in a farmhouse in Fairfield, Wash., to August and Frieda (Leitz) Bliesner, who immigrated to the United States from Germany in the early 1900s.
Freda was the third of 10 children. Her parents were farmers in the Rockford/Fairfield area south of Spokane. She attended schools in Fairfield, Waverly and Spangle, graduating from Spangle High School in 1927 as the salutatorian.
Following high school, she attended business college in Spokane. After learning there were jobs available in Kellogg, Freda and her cousin hitch-hiked to the area and found employment at Pat’s Boarding House. It was there that Freda met her first husband, Clarence (Kelly) Ray Mutch. She said she always put a little something extra special in his lunch box.
They were married June 2, 1928, in Spokane, Wash. They lived in the Silver Valley area where they raised their family of five children. Freda and her husband, Kelly, were the owners of a Mobile service station and taxi service in Kellogg in the 1940s on McKinley Avenue, where the Kellogg Elks is now located.
In 1950, a new Mobile station was built at 302 W. Cameron Ave., which they owned until Kelly’s death in 1952. Freda then ran the service station until her son, Donald, was discharged from the Navy in 1954.
On Jan. 12, 1957, Freda married Theo (Ted) Emtman and they lived on a farm south of Spokane in Valley Ford, Wash. They later divorced and in 1980 she moved to Heritage Place in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where she resided until she moved into Coeur d’Alene Homes in 2012.
Freda loved to travel, taking many cruises with her children and their spouses. She also enjoyed walking, gardening, crocheting, cooking, reading, and she had a special love for horses.
Freda is survived by her three sons, Donald Ray (Viola) Mutch of Sun City, Ariz., Harvey A. Mutch of Post Falls, Idaho, and “Gerald” Lee (Elsie) Mutch of Osburn, Idaho; two daughters, Alma Jean White of Meridian, Idaho, and Marie Ann Skelton of Coeur d’Alene. Freda has 17 grandchildren, 47 great-grandchildren and 38 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by both parents; all of her brothers and sisters; two grandsons and one great-grandson.
Freda said her greatest blessing was her family. She said her spiritual blessings were her richest rewards and she thanked her Lord and Savior everyday for her blessings. Her favorite quotes are “without faith nothing is worth while” and “I take one day at a time.”
Funeral services will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Coeur d’Alene, where she was a member, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. Graveside services will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, 2015, at Riverside Memorial Park in Spokane.
Any memorials in her name may be sent to Hospice of North Idaho or The Village at Orchard Ridge in Coeur d’Alene.
Yates Funeral Home has been entrusted with the care of final arrangements. Please visit Freda’s online memorial at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com and sign her guest book.