Helen Potter, 90, of Emmett, died in her sleep on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at her home.
She was born June 13, 1921 in Rains, Utah, the daughter of Olive Thayne Farnsworth and David Barclay Farnsworth. She was the third of seven siblings and outlived them all. She grew up in the Uinta basin in northeastern Utah.
The only time she was outside of Utah in her youth was when her dad moved to Emmett in the 1920s to work the green chain for Boise Cascade Lumber Co. As the Depression began, her family returned to the life of subsistence farmers in Utah.
After graduating from high school, she went to the big city of Salt Lake City, eventually working in a munitions plant where she chanced to meet an "intriguing and handsome" young Melvin Potter, who was on a road trip for Idaho Power. They corresponded and went fly fishing in the Uinta's. She left Utah to join him at the Farragut Naval Training Station in northern Idaho. They were married on October, 1943 in Coeur d'Alene.
After the war, they returned to the Caldwell area to work. She had various jobs, including tying fish flies. In 1946, Helen coaxed Mel into applying for the job as superintendent at Deadwood Dam in the mountains of central Idaho. They got the job and with little preparation went to spend a winter alone and snowed in for nine months. They had neglected to tell the Bureau of Reclamation that Helen was pregnant with their first son, David. They survived that winter. A second son, Gary, followed in 14 months and they spent 7 years living there. Helen would say these were the "best years of her life."
She continued tying fish flies which she sold and used in the streams and lakes of Deadwood. She averaged a thousand dozen a winter and was never bored. When David was ready for school, the family moved to Emmett, and they became federal nomads working at Black Canyon, Palisades, Arrowrock and Flaming Gorge Dams.
In 1972, Mel retired and they settled in Emmett. Helen never retired, but worked for the next 38 years helping build a family home, gardening in the summer, canning in the fall, and cooking comfort food for Mel and anyone who came by at mealtime.
She traveled with her sisters to seek out her origins in England and Scotland. She and Mel spent winters as "snow birds" in Yuma, Arizona.
She was able to fulfill her lifelong dream of making art through painting. She was outgoing and always would help by act or word. Helen was a good neighbor to all who knew her in Emmett, the west end of Gem County and most folks beyond.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in law, David Potter and Lisa Isaksen, of Emmett; son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Karen Potter, of Prosser, WA; nine grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren, with four on the way.
Mrs. Potter was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin, who passed away in February of this year; an infant child, Roy; and her siblings: Fern, Ken, Minnie, Bonnie, Barbara and Keith.
Services will be held under the direction of the Potter Funeral Chapel Saturday, May 26, at 10:00 a.m. at the LDS church in Letha, ID. Viewing will be held 9:00 to 10:00.
Burial will take place after the services at the Emmett Cemetery.
Published in Idaho Statesman on May 24, 2012
She was born June 13, 1921 in Rains, Utah, the daughter of Olive Thayne Farnsworth and David Barclay Farnsworth. She was the third of seven siblings and outlived them all. She grew up in the Uinta basin in northeastern Utah.
The only time she was outside of Utah in her youth was when her dad moved to Emmett in the 1920s to work the green chain for Boise Cascade Lumber Co. As the Depression began, her family returned to the life of subsistence farmers in Utah.
After graduating from high school, she went to the big city of Salt Lake City, eventually working in a munitions plant where she chanced to meet an "intriguing and handsome" young Melvin Potter, who was on a road trip for Idaho Power. They corresponded and went fly fishing in the Uinta's. She left Utah to join him at the Farragut Naval Training Station in northern Idaho. They were married on October, 1943 in Coeur d'Alene.
After the war, they returned to the Caldwell area to work. She had various jobs, including tying fish flies. In 1946, Helen coaxed Mel into applying for the job as superintendent at Deadwood Dam in the mountains of central Idaho. They got the job and with little preparation went to spend a winter alone and snowed in for nine months. They had neglected to tell the Bureau of Reclamation that Helen was pregnant with their first son, David. They survived that winter. A second son, Gary, followed in 14 months and they spent 7 years living there. Helen would say these were the "best years of her life."
She continued tying fish flies which she sold and used in the streams and lakes of Deadwood. She averaged a thousand dozen a winter and was never bored. When David was ready for school, the family moved to Emmett, and they became federal nomads working at Black Canyon, Palisades, Arrowrock and Flaming Gorge Dams.
In 1972, Mel retired and they settled in Emmett. Helen never retired, but worked for the next 38 years helping build a family home, gardening in the summer, canning in the fall, and cooking comfort food for Mel and anyone who came by at mealtime.
She traveled with her sisters to seek out her origins in England and Scotland. She and Mel spent winters as "snow birds" in Yuma, Arizona.
She was able to fulfill her lifelong dream of making art through painting. She was outgoing and always would help by act or word. Helen was a good neighbor to all who knew her in Emmett, the west end of Gem County and most folks beyond.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in law, David Potter and Lisa Isaksen, of Emmett; son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Karen Potter, of Prosser, WA; nine grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren, with four on the way.
Mrs. Potter was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin, who passed away in February of this year; an infant child, Roy; and her siblings: Fern, Ken, Minnie, Bonnie, Barbara and Keith.
Services will be held under the direction of the Potter Funeral Chapel Saturday, May 26, at 10:00 a.m. at the LDS church in Letha, ID. Viewing will be held 9:00 to 10:00.
Burial will take place after the services at the Emmett Cemetery.
Published in Idaho Statesman on May 24, 2012
Helen Potter, 90, of Emmett, died in her sleep on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at her home.
She was born June 13, 1921 in Rains, Utah, the daughter of Olive Thayne Farnsworth and David Barclay Farnsworth. She was the third of seven siblings and outlived them all. She grew up in the Uinta basin in northeastern Utah.
The only time she was outside of Utah in her youth was when her dad moved to Emmett in the 1920s to work the green chain for Boise Cascade Lumber Co. As the Depression began, her family returned to the life of subsistence farmers in Utah.
After graduating from high school, she went to the big city of Salt Lake City, eventually working in a munitions plant where she chanced to meet an "intriguing and handsome" young Melvin Potter, who was on a road trip for Idaho Power. They corresponded and went fly fishing in the Uinta's. She left Utah to join him at the Farragut Naval Training Station in northern Idaho. They were married on October, 1943 in Coeur d'Alene.
After the war, they returned to the Caldwell area to work. She had various jobs, including tying fish flies. In 1946, Helen coaxed Mel into applying for the job as superintendent at Deadwood Dam in the mountains of central Idaho. They got the job and with little preparation went to spend a winter alone and snowed in for nine months. They had neglected to tell the Bureau of Reclamation that Helen was pregnant with their first son, David. They survived that winter. A second son, Gary, followed in 14 months and they spent 7 years living there. Helen would say these were the "best years of her life."
She continued tying fish flies which she sold and used in the streams and lakes of Deadwood. She averaged a thousand dozen a winter and was never bored. When David was ready for school, the family moved to Emmett, and they became federal nomads working at Black Canyon, Palisades, Arrowrock and Flaming Gorge Dams.
In 1972, Mel retired and they settled in Emmett. Helen never retired, but worked for the next 38 years helping build a family home, gardening in the summer, canning in the fall, and cooking comfort food for Mel and anyone who came by at mealtime.
She traveled with her sisters to seek out her origins in England and Scotland. She and Mel spent winters as "snow birds" in Yuma, Arizona.
She was able to fulfill her lifelong dream of making art through painting. She was outgoing and always would help by act or word. Helen was a good neighbor to all who knew her in Emmett, the west end of Gem County and most folks beyond.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in law, David Potter and Lisa Isaksen, of Emmett; son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Karen Potter, of Prosser, WA; nine grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren, with four on the way.
Mrs. Potter was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin, who passed away in February of this year; an infant child, Roy; and her siblings: Fern, Ken, Minnie, Bonnie, Barbara and Keith.
Services will be held under the direction of the Potter Funeral Chapel Saturday, May 26, at 10:00 a.m. at the LDS church in Letha, ID. Viewing will be held 9:00 to 10:00.
Burial will take place after the services at the Emmett Cemetery.
Published in Idaho Statesman on May 24, 2012
She was born June 13, 1921 in Rains, Utah, the daughter of Olive Thayne Farnsworth and David Barclay Farnsworth. She was the third of seven siblings and outlived them all. She grew up in the Uinta basin in northeastern Utah.
The only time she was outside of Utah in her youth was when her dad moved to Emmett in the 1920s to work the green chain for Boise Cascade Lumber Co. As the Depression began, her family returned to the life of subsistence farmers in Utah.
After graduating from high school, she went to the big city of Salt Lake City, eventually working in a munitions plant where she chanced to meet an "intriguing and handsome" young Melvin Potter, who was on a road trip for Idaho Power. They corresponded and went fly fishing in the Uinta's. She left Utah to join him at the Farragut Naval Training Station in northern Idaho. They were married on October, 1943 in Coeur d'Alene.
After the war, they returned to the Caldwell area to work. She had various jobs, including tying fish flies. In 1946, Helen coaxed Mel into applying for the job as superintendent at Deadwood Dam in the mountains of central Idaho. They got the job and with little preparation went to spend a winter alone and snowed in for nine months. They had neglected to tell the Bureau of Reclamation that Helen was pregnant with their first son, David. They survived that winter. A second son, Gary, followed in 14 months and they spent 7 years living there. Helen would say these were the "best years of her life."
She continued tying fish flies which she sold and used in the streams and lakes of Deadwood. She averaged a thousand dozen a winter and was never bored. When David was ready for school, the family moved to Emmett, and they became federal nomads working at Black Canyon, Palisades, Arrowrock and Flaming Gorge Dams.
In 1972, Mel retired and they settled in Emmett. Helen never retired, but worked for the next 38 years helping build a family home, gardening in the summer, canning in the fall, and cooking comfort food for Mel and anyone who came by at mealtime.
She traveled with her sisters to seek out her origins in England and Scotland. She and Mel spent winters as "snow birds" in Yuma, Arizona.
She was able to fulfill her lifelong dream of making art through painting. She was outgoing and always would help by act or word. Helen was a good neighbor to all who knew her in Emmett, the west end of Gem County and most folks beyond.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in law, David Potter and Lisa Isaksen, of Emmett; son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Karen Potter, of Prosser, WA; nine grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren, with four on the way.
Mrs. Potter was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin, who passed away in February of this year; an infant child, Roy; and her siblings: Fern, Ken, Minnie, Bonnie, Barbara and Keith.
Services will be held under the direction of the Potter Funeral Chapel Saturday, May 26, at 10:00 a.m. at the LDS church in Letha, ID. Viewing will be held 9:00 to 10:00.
Burial will take place after the services at the Emmett Cemetery.
Published in Idaho Statesman on May 24, 2012
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