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| May 2, 2018 1:00 AM

Lucille ‘Lucy’ McKnight Berry, 91

Lucille “Lucy” McKnight Berry entered peacefully into the Lord’s arms on Saturday, March 3, 2018, at her home in Rathdrum, Idaho. She was born Jan. 13, 1927, to James Carl McKnight and Irene Rebecca Near McKnight.

Lucille was a breast cancer survivor, but battled with lung cancer and complications of COPD in her final years.

She was raised on a country farm in Bad Axe, Mich., with eight brothers and two sisters. She attended McKenzie School, a one room schoolhouse, through the eighth grade and then attended Bad Axe High School. During those school years she loved spelling bees and learning sewing skills. When watching “Wheel of Fortune” she would excel as a couch contestant. She also would love watching the reruns of “The Lawrence Welk Show” and often sang along. The sewing skills gave way to a passion for sewing in her later years.

As a mother and housewife, she was always busy making doll clothes, her children’s’ clothing, baby layettes (which she also knitted and crocheted) and clothing for numerous grandchildren and others. In her mid-40s she learned how to drive and got her first job outside of the home. She became a seamstress at Olga’s Lingerie factory in Van Nuys, Calif.

From there her interests turned to quilting, which she was self-taught. She made numerous quilts, from infant to king size, for her family and friends. Her bird watching evolved in her later years, where she enjoying watching them from her house she so loved. Her favorite was the bejeweled hummingbird. She promptly filled their feeders every spring. She loved reading her bird books to discover the different types of birds that visited every season, and was excited when she found a new species.

Surviving are her two daughters, Linda Paye Hoobler and Catherine Paye, both from Rathdrum, Idaho; her son, Gary Paye Sr. (Antonia DeLa Rosa Paye) of Valencia, Calif.; grandchildren, Gary Jr., Antonio and Maria Paye of Valencia and Jeffery Hoobler of Tacoma, Wash.; great-grandchildren, Devin and Austin Hoobler, Austin, Elizabeth and Chantal Paye, Hunter and Morgan Paye, and Maximillian and Magnus R-Paye. Lucille is preceded in death by her parents, James and Irene; brothers, Harold, Ray and Samuel; sisters, Florence and Mary and husbands, William Paye and Felix Berry.

A celebration of life for Lucille will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at her home in Rathdrum, Idaho. Please join us to share so many great memories in her 91 years of Life. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Lucille’s name to Hospice of North Idaho.

English Funeral Chapel is entrusted with arrangements. To see Lucille’s online memorial and to sign the guestbook for the family, please visit www.englishfuneralchapel.com