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Fern Leora Bates Ehrlich, 84

Mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, cousin, sister, aunt.

Fern crossed over Jordon on her journey home to the Lord in the early morning hours of July 25, 2019. Fern was born in Alva, Okla., on Oct. 11, 1934, to Leland and Nellie Bates. It was the time of the Dust Bowl, and Oklahoma’s Panhandle was the hardest hit. They moved to the Silver Valley of Idaho to follow their dreams. Fern grew up on the hillsides of Burke Canyon. There were a lot of road trips and moves made during the younger days of her life, and with it came her children.

The western United States was a place to be seen, and she wanted to see it all. She loved to pick huckleberries and the best part ... eating huckleberries. It is a love that she passed on to her five children. They all love huckleberries and the memories that come to mind of Mother and those days in their youth.

Fern spent many years devoted to furthering her education as time made possible; she earned her BA in psychology from Eastern Washington University. She was mostly a homemaker and student, but she worked from time to time. She drove school buses, decorated cakes for weddings and birthdays and worked as an event coordinator at nursing homes. She loved arts and crafts, creative writing and ancestry. She loved to paint and never missed a Bob Ross recording on public television, where she learned how to paint happy trees.

As time ticked on, Fern got older and her mind a little slower with the passing of her family and friends, and the events took a toll on her and clouded those memories of the Burke Canyon and the Western United States and the names of family and how to paint happy trees and even huckleberries. It’s very difficult to put in just a few lines all the memories and stories that Mom made to represent her life other than simply: Fern was loved and she loved us all and we will miss her.

Fern was preceded in death by her father and mother; her daughter, Barbara, and her husband, Joe; all of her aunts and uncles and her savior, Jesus Christ, who through his love for us has made a home for her and her family who have passed before her, and they are now rejoicing.

Fern’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren would like to invite you to say goodbye and celebrate Fern and the memories she has given us.

Please contact the family for the details, and if you ever have a chance, please donate your time to the elderly and those with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Please visit Fern’s online memorial at www.EnglishFuneralChapel.com, and leave a message of condolence. English Funeral Chapel, Post Falls has been entrusted with Fern’s arrangements.