Jean Ella Wright, 83

Jean Ella Wright, 83, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, May 27, 2009.

In a recent letter addressed to her “darling daughters” Gini Woodward, Barb Fournier, Liz Stephenson and Bev Kee, Jean stated “I feel like I’ve had a good life and you girls have helped me make it so.”

Jean was born in Olney Springs, Colo., and moved to Spokane, Wash., in the eighth grade where she met her future husband Frank Wright.

Frank and Jean relocated to Sandpoint in 1965.

In Jean’s working years, she was a bookkeeper for several businesses prior to opening Wright’s Paint and Sundries in the early 1970s. Her love for treasures led her to later operate second hand stores in Sandpoint and Libby, Mont.

Jean had a passion for gardening, the outdoors and the simple pleasures of nature such as the smell of fresh sheets hung on the clothesline. She freely provided her daughters with whatever resources were needed to nurture their creativity — yarn, fabric, cooking supplies, seeds and even spoons to take outside for making mud pies.

Over the years, Jean was a Sunday school teacher, a Girl Scout leader and a Job’s Daughter advisor. She served at the Bonner General Hospital Auxiliary and Bonner County Museum, and was a past Worthy Matron of Eastern Star.

Family was everything to Jean.

She is also survived by sons-in-law Mike Woodward, Harold Stephenson and Andy Kee; 13 gandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and her little brother and sister, Joe and Tudi.

 In lieu of a funeral, Jean requested a gathering with family members. The well-attended thank-you Mom event was held last Saturday in her honor.