Marcella Lee (Elston) Abell 66

Marcella Lee (Elston) Abell 66, passed

away May 6 at home attended by her husband, Gareth, and her son

Gareth II.

After having struggled for 26 years as a paraplegic confined to a

wheelchair she succumbed to natural causes.

A celebration of her life will be held at the gymnasium of Valley

View Elementary School in Bonners Ferry at 10 a.m. on Saturday May

28, 2011. In lieu of flowers, money should be sent to the PTA at

Valley View Elementary.

She was born in Kendalville, Ind., on March 16, 1945, and raised in

Niles, Mich., where her father was a pastor. Marcella attended

Anderson College in Anderson, Ind., where she met her husband,

Gareth, of 46 years.

While attending Anderson College, she had her daughters Katie and

Melanie. After graduating from Anderson, she taught in the Anderson

School District while obtaining her masters degree from Ball State

University and having her third child, Gareth II.

Her family moved to Bonners Ferry when she got a job at Valley View

Elementary in 1977. Mrs. Abell taught for eight years in Anderson,

Ind., and for 24 years at Valley View.

Hers was an active life and one where she served the Lord in all

that she did. With the outdoors and the small farm their family

owned, she loved north Idaho. Spruce Lake and the Roman Nose Lakes

were places she loved while the four Snow Creek Falls were her

all-time favorites.

She is preceded in death by her father, one brother and a

sister.

Marcella leaves her husband Gareth, of Bonners Ferry, and her

daughters, Katie White of Kennewick, Wash,, Melanie Newton of Post

Falls, and her son, Gareth II of Coeur d'Alene.

Katie and her husband Mike White gave Marcella a wonderful

granddaughter Amanda. Melanie and her husband Jon Newton gave her

two grandsons, Tyler and Kyle. Gareth II and his wife Jenny have

two beautiful children, Riley and Kara.

Two other young men have adopted Marcella as a mother and she loved

them as she did her own children: Mike Tritt and his wife Lisette

with their daughter Sofia call Marcella mom and grandma.

Mike is stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan. Robert Lee Nelson and his

wife Laura Lee also chose her as a mother. They have three

children: Shyanne, Hunter, and Mackenzy of Post Falls.

Marcella also leaves her mother, Edna Mae Elston, sister, Helen

Fuqua, and brother Marion Elston, all of Florida. There are too

many cousins, nephews and nieces and great nephews and nieces to

list. She loved them unconditionally.

As a teacher, she worked with many children, and as a person she

affected thousands of people by her example and her life. She made

the world a better place and she will be missed.