Delaney buys Boundary Abstract

Sharlene Delaney went to work for the late Pete Wilson’s law firm more than 31 years ago.

She now, nearly 29 years later, Delaney has purchased the business

She has two of the people who’ve helped her for the past several years, Becky Calderone and Kelly Jelinek still with her.

According to Delaney, it’s an event that has been long in the making.

But a little history is in order.

The first president of Boundary Abstract was Charles O’Callaghan, who sold it to Pete Wilson’s dad, O.C. Wilson, who owned it for many years before selling it to M.D. Pace while Wilson was still in school.

After high school, Wilson enlisted in the Army to serve in World War II, and he came back to follow in his father’s footsteps, going to college and earning a law degree. After practicing his trade for a few years in California and Washington, he returned to his hometown, and went into practice with Watt Prather. When Prather was elevated to what would become a distinguished career as First District Judge, Wilson brought Boundary Abstract back to the sole ownership of the Wilson family.

When Blanche Studer, then manager of Boundary Abstract left Bonners Ferry for Lewiston, Wilson asked his law clerk, Delaney, who had attended vocational school in Montana and learned the highly innovative “mag card typewriter,” a precursor to the modern computer, if she’d be willing to step into Blanche’s position.

Delaney did.

She was taught, she said, by an extraordinary teacher, Pete Wilson, who taught her not only what she needed to know to do her job, but the legal precepts, case histories and why the work she did was so important.

Property ownership is a serious matter, and disputes between neighbors over a matter of inches between lines can be subject to argument, feud and outright hatred, even murder. To those who avail themselves of the services a title company offers, such painful headaches can be avoided, even though it might be suggested that the services of a surveyor might be recommended so as to define old property descriptions.

“We have the best and most complete land records in the county,” Delaney said. “We’ve been keeping track of land transactions in this county since 1915, and all records go back to the original recorded patent.”

She has no intention, she said, of changing anything, but to continue to grow and adapt so as to continue providing the unparalleled service Boundary Abstract is known for.

Wlson and his wife Rhoda’s son, Tim Wilson, who, like his father, left Bonners Ferry to serve his country as a United States Marine. He returned home to earn his law degree took the family business built over decades and now passes it to the law clerk who for decades served the family so well.

“Tim said he’s happy that he’ll be able to dedicate more time to his law practice, his clients and his community,” Delaney said.

“This business is in the best of hands,” Tim Wilson said. “The trust my grandparents and parents earned is going to be carried down to the next generation. They will never lose sight of doing their best for the people of this community.”

Boundary Abstract is located in the same place it’s been for nearly a century, 6430 Kootenai St., Bonners Ferry, Idaho, 83805.  Sharlene said she’s going to work to keep it there for another 100 years.