Nancy Starks Stephens, 80

Nancy Starks Stephens, 80, of Mesa, Ariz., passed away, peacefully in her sleep on March 24, 2013, following a long illness.

Services will be held on Saturday, July 27, 2013, at 2 p.m. at Grandview Cemetery, Bonners Ferry, Idaho, followed by a gathering at the Bonners Ferry United Methodist Church.

She was born in Pendleton, Ore., on July 29, 1932, to Lloyd and Ellen (Keller) Starks. The Starks family moved to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where Nancy attended Northside School and graduated from Bonners Ferry High School in 1951. She was a majorette and sang in a quintet.

She attended nursing school at St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton, Ore.

She married Wayne Edward Stephens in the flower garden of her family home on Aug. 2, 1953, and moved to Moscow, Idaho where she worked as a nurse’s aide, and began a family.

Nancy lived in Weiser, Idaho, where she was active in the Methodist Church and served as president of the PTA.

The family moved to Nampa, Idaho, and Portland, Ore., before beginning service on the Crow Indian Reservation, Crow Agency, Mont., and then moved to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, Fort Yates, N.D.

She made many friends and worked on learning the Sioux language.

She continued to be active in her church and taught Sunday School.

She moved to Billings, Mont., in 1971 and to Huntley Project, Mont., in 1975. In Huntley, she was one of the first ranchers in Montana to raise registered polled brahman cattle. She worked tirelessly on the ranch and cared for her mother, Ellen Starks, in the last years of her life.

She retired to Mesa, Ariz., in 1990, where she served as a member the Mesa Shadows Homeowner’s Association and was active in organizing community activities.

She is survived by four children, Dianna (Robb) Pinkerton of Toulouse, France, Mark (Debbie) Stephens of Kennewick, Wash., Jeanne (Robert) Jacobsen of Billings, Mont., and Julia Stephens of Mesa, Ariz.

She enjoyed spending time with her eight grandchildren, Jennifer Jacobsen, Tessa Pinkerton, Alexandria Kottwitz, Tori Kottwitz, Christine Jacobsen, Katie Jacobsen, Ethan Pinkerton, and Austin Kottwitz, two step-grandchildren, Angie Pirtz and Dan Pirtz, as well as with her great granddaughter, Addison Stephens.

She is also survived by her sister, Mary Ellen Reser of Condon, Ore.

She was preceded in death by her brothers Richard Starks and Jack Starks.

She will be remembered as a wonderful caring mother, grandmother and great grandmother, whose family was her most precious gift.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her name to Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E. Flower St., Phoenix, AZ 85014