Roy Allen Gowey, 69

Roy Allen Gowey was born on the cold, stormy night of Dec. 15, 1954, in the Warder Hospital in Kellogg, Idaho. He arrived in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, just past 1:30 local time (the year-round Pacific Daylight Saving time was in effect in the mining district then and for many years). Roy’s mom (who was there and ought to know) said the wind howled around the hospital that night. 

His mom was Agnes Julia (Smith) Gowey, whose maternal grandparents, Patrick Henry and Mary Evangelina Morrison, had reached North Idaho and settled in the Dudley-Rose Lake area in 1894. Roy’s dad was Roy Alonzo Gowey, who came from the northeast corner of Oregon. Both Roy’s parents were humble, hardworking people with wonderful senses of humor. They loved and supported their late-in-life only child. Roy couldn’t imagine better parents. 

Roy grew up in the Fourth of July Canyon. There, he began his lifelong love of the outdoors and history. The canyon acquired its name from a military road-building party that celebrated Independence Day 1861 at its summit. A remnant of the road they built (popularly known as the Mullan Road) was on the hillside directly behind his house. Roy recalled hiking up to that stretch of old road with his mom in the years before he started school. There was a shady area of the road covered by thick green moss that his mom likened to a lush carpet. After dinner during grade school days, Roy and his dad climbed to that wagon road and scratched arithmetic problems and drawings in loose slabs of slate rock. Roy remembered his uncle, Bob Bryson, horse-logging on that hill. 

Roy started school in the fall of 1961 (there were no public kindergartens in Idaho until the 1970s). Roy attended all 12 years of school in the Kellogg School District. From first grade through sixth grade, he attended Canyon Elementary School. Then, he went to Pinehurst Junior High through ninth grade. Finally, he attended Kellogg High School, graduating with the Class of 1973. All along the way, he made good friends and benefited from many fine teachers. It’s impossible to name all of them here, but they were all treasured by Roy for what they imparted to him over the years. 

Roy attended the University of Idaho, majoring in Political Science, graduating in May of 1977. He later attended Gonzaga School of Law, was a Thomas More Scholarship recipient, and was awarded his Juris Doctorate in May of 1983. Roy was a research assistant for Professor James M. Vache, where he researched in areas of administrative and municipal law for a “how-to” book the professor was writing on public participation in Washington state and local government. 

Roy became a member of the Idaho State Bar Association in September 1983. He was admitted to the Washington State Bar in 1986. 

Roy worked as a Coeur d’Alene City prosecutor for 35+ years, retiring in 2019. 

Roy was truly a gentleman and a scholar. He was a friend to all he met and a man of incredible personal integrity. He will never be forgotten. 

Roy Allen Gowey passed from this life at the Hospice of North Idaho’s Schneidmiller House at 12:51 p.m. July 17, 2024. 

Memorial services and a reception for our dear friend, Roy, will be held Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, at 11 a.m. at Shoshone Funeral Services, 106 S. Main St., Kellogg, ID. Inurnment will follow at Rose Lake Cemetery. 

Memories of Roy and messages of condolence may be shared online at www.shoshonefuneralservice.com. Shoshone Funeral Services, Kellogg, is assisting with Roy’s arrangements.