Ann House

HOUSE, Ann
(Age 83)

Ann House passed away May 24, 2011 in Spokane, Wash. and was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on Feb. 12, 1928. She was the daughter of Clyde and Mabelle Moore and the younger sister of Alexander Moore. The family moved to the United States during Ann's childhood, and she attended school in Wilbur, Wash., and later went to North Central High School in Spokane. While working in retail sales she met and married Dale Raymond House, and the couple married on Oct. 9, 1948. They raised six children, all of whom still reside in the area.

Of the many things Ann most cherished, her lifetime of friendships were dearest to her heart. All who knew her could count on her friendship. She considered her friends as family, especially those she met through the decades of service of the Lord at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Spokane. With this church family, she worked on a number of charitable endeavors throughout the region. She held a leadership role and worked tirelessly with Church Women United during her lifetime, and she did extensive volunteer work and was very active in the many causes of St. Andrew's, including being one of the main organizers of the church's annual rummage sale for many years and working with the local Crosswalk organization. She was a nationally recognized church lay reader and frequently was a lay reader for St. Andrew's.

Ann could always be counted on to help people in need, and she was looked upon as a "neighborhood mom" while she was raising her own children in Spokane. Those friendships with other children carried on throughout the years, and many of those children thought of her as a second mother or grandmother throughout their lives.

Ann was a talented writer and was a published poet and short-story author. She used her writing skills to help publish the St. Andrew's newsletter and help produce a written history of the church. Among her other hobbies over the years, she enjoyed sewing, drawing, working with clay, loved playing board games with her children, enjoyed doing crossword puzzles and was an avid Seattle Mariners fan. During her courtship and early in her marriage she was an enthusiastic dancer, which seemed an appropriate marriage of interests with her husband, who was a clarinet and saxophone musician in a band when they met. Ann was a very determined person, and she kept pursuing new challenges throughout her lifetime. An example of that determined spirit was when she taught herself how to drive and also finished her education in her mid-40s after her children were nearly raised.

Marion E. Hay, her great-uncle, was the seventh governor of the state of Washington from 1909-1913.

Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Clyde and Mabelle Moore; by her husband, Dale, in 2006; and in 1995 by Robin (Risley) House. She is survived by her daughters Charlotte Haus, Leslie, Beth and Nancy House and Nancy's longtime partner Art Ogo, as well as her sons Dale A. and Richard "Rick" House; grandchildren Tracy Ogo, Tucker Ybarra and Nicole, Charlie and Lucas House; foster grandsons Minh, Cory, Jonathan and Brandon.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 4, at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 2404 N. Howard St., Spokane, Wa. 99205. Memorials may be made in Ann's honor to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Memorial Fund or the charity of your choice. Inurnment will follow at a later date at Fairmont Memorial Park in Spokane.