Anita Loraine (Howell) Townsend, 80

Anita Loraine (Howell) Townsend, 80, passed away April 3, 2020, from complications of vascular dementia. A lifelong teacher, Anita taught professionally for 31 years and more than 10 years as a volunteer tutor. She was born in 1939 and raised in Kootenai County.

After graduating from Coeur d’Alene High School, Anita attended North Idaho College and subsequently earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Idaho in 1961. After meeting Louis “Lee” Townsend in college, she and Lee were married at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Coeur d’Alene.

Anita devoted her professional life to teaching students how to read. She was inspired to focus on teaching reading by her brother, Dick, who was born with cerebral palsy and never learned to read. A tireless and devoted educator, Anita wouldn’t rest until every one of her elementary students mastered the basics of reading.

She taught third grade on Loring Air Force Base, in Limestone, Maine, while her husband was stationed there; taught English in a German interpreter school in Wuerzburg; worked in a multi-problem family project in Sandpoint; taught grades one and two at Athol Elementary; taught first grade in John Day, Oregon, and was director of the reading center for four years at Campobello School in Phoenix, Ariz.

Anita’s oldest student was a 78-year-old man who had never gone to school and wanted to learn to read Louis L’Amour books. After six months of Anita’s tutoring at Tillamook Bay Community College, the man achieved his lifelong dream.

In 1995, Anita and Lee bought their retirement home in Ocean Park, Wash. They resided there for 25 years. After teaching her grandchildren how to read, she taught them how to read and play musical instruments, including her favorite instrument, the accordion (she worked at Our Music Store on Fourth Street in Coeur d’Alene for six years). Anita arranged for her grandchildren to perform for the local senior living center, where they brought the joy of music to the elderly.

Anita continued to play an active role in her grandchildren’s lives, and also did part-time tutoring. A nature and outdoor enthusiast, she and Lee enjoyed taking day trips and vacations around the Pacific Northwest.

Anita is survived by her husband, Lee; her daughter, Suzette Lewis (Jeff); three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ernest and Pauline Howell, and her brother, Richard.

Contributions may be made to the Richard W. Howell Scholarship Fund at North Idaho College. Interment was at Gethsemane Catholic Cemetery in Federal Way, Wash. A celebration of her life will take place at a later date.