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Betty May Strand, 81

Betty May (Chaffins) Strand, 81, of Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene, died Aug. 16, 2019, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. She was born Dec. 18, 1931, in Sandpoint, Idaho, to Bryan Osbourne and Myrtle (Guay) Chaffins. She was raised in Priest River, Idaho, and graduated from Priest River High School. She later received her associate’s degree in bookkeeping.

She was married to the love of her life, Garey Strand, on July 21, 1956, in Coeur d’Alene. She worked at many odd jobs when Garey was in college, all while she took care of the home and children. Upon graduation, she held several bookkeeping positions, including with the Chamber of Congress, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Shenango Screen Printing Company. She frequently packed up and moved with her family around the country as part of Garey’s career with Boeing, and finally retired back to her dream log-home on the hill in Post Falls.

Betty loved her collections, including perfume bottles, coffee cups, bookmarks, kitty cat figurines, African violet plants, angels and any good book. She enjoyed sewing, quilting, watching the birds and deer outside her windows and riding the country on a motorcycle with her husband. She was also an avid reader of one to two books per week. She loved a good crime story, be it in print or on television, including “Perry Mason,” “Murder She Wrote” and “CSI.” She was a talented league bowler for many years and regularly played pinochle, bridge and bunco with good friends. She always looked forward to her weekly outing to the beauty parlor to style her hair and finger nails and catch up on the latest gossip. She was very well traveled and toured the United States, Europe, China, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. She was always up for an adventure with family and friends.

She was a very proud mother of three daughters and loved her three grandchildren.

Betty is survived by her husband, Garey, and her younger brother, Richard (Jean) Campbell of Fishtail, Mont.; sister-in-law, Vera (Frank) Pagnotta of Spokane, Wash.; daughters, Jane (Gene) O’Meara of Ajo, Ariz., Jill (Strand) Macchi of Post Falls and Tena (Troy) Campbell of Syracuse, Utah; and grandchildren, Joshua (Christina) Clementz of Longmont, Colo., Jamie Eckardt of Perry, Utah, and Montana Vandewarker of Post Falls. Betty was preceded in death by her parents and siblings, Bob Chaffins, Faye Shaw, Merle Chaffins, William Chaffins, Gloria Lebeck, and Don Chaffins.

A memorial service will be held in Betty’s honor at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, at the Coeur d’Alene Chapel, located at the corner of Seventh St. and Wallace Ave. Light snacks will be served. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Pleasant View Community Association in honor of Betty. Donations can be mailed to the Pleasant View Community Association, P.O. Box 3145, Post Falls, ID, 83877-3145.

Please visit Betty’s online memorial at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.