Orlena Christina Crum

Orlena Christina Crum

Orlena Christina Crum went to join our Lord on April 20, 2019, at the age of 92.

Lena was born Aug. 19, 1926, to descendants of German immigrants in Colorado who homesteaded on the plains near Colorado Springs. She was the first born of four (two brothers and one sister). She lived with her family on the plains of Colorado where she met her husband, Donald Ernest Crum. He would occasionally fly over in his family plane, land in the pasture, and pick her up for a date. They were married January 14, 1949. After their marriage they lived in various cities in Colorado where Don was a contractor and Lena was a homemaker for their five children, Linda, Kathleen, Donald Jr., Tena, and Carol.

In 1969 they left Colorado and moved to Bonners Ferry, where Don’s parents and sister lived. Don continued to work in construction and Lena was a homemaker until she began managing the Valley Motel for several years ... until they retired to a house that Don built for them near the golf course. After Don’s death in 2005, Lena continued living in their home until the age of 90 when she could no longer be alone and moved into the Boundary Community Hospital Nursing Home.

Lena liked to crochet, do needlepoint, and loved to cook. She was an exceptionally good cook and would can all the vegetables that Don would raise in their garden. She was a special person — kind, caring, and always willing to do what she could to help others. She always had a smile and laugh for everyone.

Lena is preceded in death by her parents, Conrad and Mary Lindt, brothers Harold Lindt and Albert Lindt, her husband Donald Crum, and her only son Donald Crum Jr.

She is survived by her sister Connie Wells of Bonners Ferry, Idaho; her daughters Linda Brown of Vancouver, Wash., Kathleen Knoles and her husband Ed of Priest River, Idaho, Tena Lovell and her husband Keith of Priest River, Idaho, and Carol Solt and her husband Matthew of Bonner Ferry, Idaho. She is also survived by eight grandchildren: Kelly Clark, Jessica (Matt) Chumbley, Rachel Knoles, Laurel (Baylen) Thomas, Nydia (Keith Bryant) Lovell, Kyle Lovell, Cory Lovell, and Nathaniel Solt; and eight great-grandchildren, Kayla Clark, Evan Brown-Marquez, Nicholas Brown-Marquez, Ava Walter, Hailey Hatfield, Emily Hatfield, Derek Jenks, and Sadie Lovell; along with numerous nieces and nephews.

Services and a reception will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 27, 2019, at the Trinity Lutheran Church, with a private interment to follow.