Elizabeth King

Elizabeth "Peggy" King 1914-2011 Elizabeth "Peggy" King, age 96, a long-time resident of Bruneau, died peacefully in a Boise hospital on May 12, 2011. Services will be held at the Bruneau American Legion Hall, Wednesday, May 18, 2011, at 11:00 A.M. A viewing will start at 10:00 A.M. She was born June 23, 1914 at home in Bowmont, Idaho to Robert Blakeslee and Edyth (Kern) Blakeslee. The birth announcement in the local paper reported she was the first white child born in Bowmont. She had an older brother, Kern and a younger brother, Bill. Mom grew up in Bowmont, graduating from Nampa High School in 1932 and the University of Idaho (Southern Branch at Pocatello) in May 1934. Her first job was teaching at the one-room school in Little Valley, 1935 - 1937. She was paid $85.00 a month for teaching with an extra $5.00 for cleaning, chopping wood for the fire, etc. She married Fred King on May 23, 1938. Except for a one-year teaching job following WWII, mom and dad lived on the family farm in Little Valley, but in 1952 the backwaters of the C. J. Strike Dam covered part of the farm resulting in a buy-out by the Idaho Power Company. With their farm gone and a growing family, they made a courageous decision to file on 640 acres of desert land under the Homestead Act in what is now known as Sugar Valley. With one tractor and a team of horses they cleared the brush, leveled the land, built the fences, drilled the wells, dug the irrigation ditches and moved a house in from Boise. Those first years were difficult but they somehow managed to make a living and raise their six kids?Carolyn, Joe, Bob, Mary, Connie and Judy. In 1963 at the age of 49, mom went back to college (summer school at Idaho State University) to renew her teaching certificate. Five years later and with many summer school classes and projects behind her, she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Education and was once again a full time certified teacher in the Bruneau school system. Mom continued to teach in the Bruneau Elementary School until dad died in 1977 and then she retired to work in her yard and garden, which were a source of enjoyment and gave her a purpose for getting up in the morning. She always valued work and felt uneasy if she didn't do something meaningful each day, even after she turned 90. One of her favorite sayings was 'my brow is wet with honest sweat' a line from The Village Blacksmith. She was preceded in death by her husband Fred and two of their children; Carolyn Bowman and Bob King; one grandson Walter Bowman and brothers Kern and Bill Blakeslee. She is survived by four of her six children; Joe and his wife Jodie of Eagle; Mary Tindall and her husband Gene of Bruneau; Connie Mauck and her husband Jack of Briggsdale, Colorado; and Judy Eichelberger and her husband Barry of Hayden Lake; 15 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren and 18 great-great grandchildren and a life-long friend and sister-in-law Bernice Blakeslee of Nampa. In lieu of flowers, memorial may be sent to the Bruneau Library, PO Box 278, Bruneau, ID, or the Bruneau Quick Response Unit, PO Box 294, Bruneau, ID 83604 or an organization of your choice.