Farewell to our friend, thanks for the memories
Last month, on the eve of Bob Hough’s 89th birthday, I visited him at Orchard Ridge to drop off a birthday card and give him a hug. He and Cokie, his bride of nearly 66 years, had just weeks before made the move from the home they’d shared on Fourth and Foster since the 1950s, which can be an overwhelming transition. So I was happy to see that they were settling in for the next chapter of life.
As I sat next to Bob, who was comfortable in his recliner surrounded by family photographs, I laughed and I told him he was “blowing up” my Facebook page with comments after I’d posted his photograph earlier that morning. I opened the page on my smartphone to show him and then began reading him the dozens and dozens of birthday wishes and personal messages. With many he would pause and tell me a story of how he knew the poster, touched to be the recipient of such affection.
We looked at photographs and albums and he talked with love and pride about his four sons and daughter and bushel basketful of grandchildren, recalling fun family adventures, many involving time spent at their float house on Lake Coeur d’Alene. We talked some about my own father, gone for nearly a dozen years, and for whom Bob gave the eulogy at his funeral. We talked about dancing.
Long before the third generation of Houghs, Bruce’s children Derek and Julianne, became synonymous with ballroom dance and the performing arts, Bob and Cokie were dancing. As a young teen, when I first moved to Coeur d’Alene and met the Hough family in the 1960s, I remember being mesmerized by Bob and Cokie at church dances.
They were not only accomplished dancers but they brought a joyfulness to the partnership with artistry and athleticism.
Back in the day, Bob was quite a local celebrity, as a disc jockey and morning show host at stations in the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene market. But it was his time on KVNI 1080 that sealed his place in the heart of this community. The VNI in KVNI is the Voice of North Idaho and Bob was exactly that. He was always the consummate professional whose appeal was that he loved what he did and he had a genuine interest in people. He made you feel good just to be in his company.
Several years ago when I began announcing Coeur d’Alene’s Fourth of July parade, I’d invite Bob and Cokie to come sit in the bleachers next to the skybox. The octogenarians would walk downtown from Foster Avenue and enjoy the festivities, year before last even taking to the street before the parade to join all the youngsters in a little dancing.
For many years, Bob would work the parade route on roller blades, carrying a microphone and portable speaker to interview participants and spectators, an iconic memory for many of us longtime residents.
In 2010 I was debuting on the air on KVNI with a morning show. For that very first show, as my very first guest I invited Bob. At the crack of dawn, with a spring in his step there he was, wearing a Fabulous Shadows jacket, back in the studio regaling the audience with his wit and humor. He joined us in the studio and on the air a number of times over the next three years.
In that last conversation on his birthday eve, we chatted with amusement about my participation in next month’s Dancing with the Celebrities. I told him I was quite nervous and he assured me I could do it. He was smiling when he said it, though. I promised that I’d bring my dance partner to Orchard Ridge in April so he and Cokie could give us some pointers.
It’s sad to lose people we love, who have been part of the tapestry that is our lives. I’m so grateful not just to Bob for his friendship but to Cokie and his children, Terry, Bruce, Scott, John and Wendy for sharing their husband and father with this community. He made our world a better place.
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This week I join Mayor Ron Jacobson, fellow city councilors Linda Wilhelm, Alan Wolfe and Lynn Borders along with Chief Scot Haug and Chief Warren Merritt in service to seniors by participating in the March for Meals nationwide Community Champions, delivering Meals on Wheels for the Post Falls Senior Center. Often for these seniors, the meal is secondary to the human contact and safety check provided by the volunteers who drive the routes three days a week. Info: www.mowaa.org
Please consider volunteering; even substitute drivers are needed. A few hours a week will make all the difference in the world to our senior neighbors. You can also support the Post Falls Senior Center Meals on Wheels program at the Gold Rush 2016 from 5-10 p.m. on Saturday at the Greyhound Park and Event Center. Tickets are available at the Senior Center and at the door.
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Get your green on with the Coeur d’Alene Rotary at 5:30 p.m. Thursday for Coeur d’Irish at The Coeur d’Alene Resort and experience bagpipes, Irish dancers, food and specialty drinks. Info: hrogers@nccc.org.
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Happy birthday today to Colleen English, John Bujosa, Cindy Marcella, Cathy Riorden, Kelly Moore, Ken Kress, LauraLee Johnson, Laurel Rollins, Daniel Schelske and Dottie Pichard. Combining a little luck o’ the Irish with their birthday celebration on March 17 are Cody Peugh, Keith Hutcheson, Patty Conkle, Trish Ortega, Terry Corey, Carrie Nicholson, Mike Gump and Nichelle Price.
On Friday my Birthday Club buddy Jack Pierce, Chris Englebrecht, Dawn Johnston, Lisa Jirkins, Julie Bjornson and Bret Merry blow out the candles on their cake.
Saturday, Lance Bridges, Taryn Nichols, Kris Storey, Megan Merry, Troy Jones, Judey Brown, Patsy Andres, Janet Batchelder and Taryn Molter take another trip around the sun.
Happy first day of Spring birthdays on Sunday to Pam Houser, Kristi Granier, Aaron Sadler, Tad Thompson, Julie Clark, Carolyn Anderson and Matt Hansen.
On Monday, Brandie Chapman, Kelleye Heydon, Luke Paul, Michelle Lewis, Marla Lopez, Trudie Chamberlan, Julie Billetz, Steve Hanson, Jacque Kress, Derek Teal and Jack Crawford (30!) mark their special day. Beverly Larsen, Rich Anstine, Greg Cook, Tyler Huft, Jack Budvarson, Julie Perry, Katie Vaughan, Bernie Currie, Pam Adams, Boston Pierce, Cole Jaworski and Rob Carpenter will enjoy a slice of birthday cake on March 22.
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 and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.