Margaret Eleanor Vestal

Margaret Eleanor Vestal
1914-2014
Our beloved mother, Margaret Eleanor Vestal, born May 27, 1914, finished her journey on earth peacefully passing away on August 8, 2014 at the Plantation Place Assisted Living in Boise, Idaho. Margaret was preceded in death by her husband Paul B. Vestal after 66 years of marriage. Cecilia, the second to the youngest of Margaret's brothers and sisters is the last living sibling.
Margaret was raised a devout Catholic with strong Irish roots, she always believed in faith, God's will, and had such pride for her Irish heritage. Her grandparents on both sides were from Cork, Ireland and County Mayo, Ireland. She was the oldest of 9 children; John, Mary, Robert, Joseph, Frank, Helen, Cecelia and Peter. This Irish clan, Margaret's parents, grandparents and brothers and sisters, 13 in all, lived in a small house at 1042 N. Arthur in Pocatello, where her father was the editor of the Pocatello Tribune in the early days in Pocatello. Times grew hard when her grandparents passed and the bank was forced to take back the house. Shortly before the war the family moved to the second to the last house on N. Harrison. After Margaret's Dad died, she quit college to help her Mom raise her brother's and sister's, but she always had a desire to learn. She had an intellectual curiosity and was a notorious reader. She was active in local politics and was a life-long Democrat. Margaret enjoyed helping those in need, and loved working with people.
In the early thirties she started her own dress and hat shop, later going to work for Levine's dress shop and then for the Pocatello Water Department. In 1937 Margaret married Paul Vestal, a young coal miner from southern Missouri who came out west with the Civil Conservation League. The young couple purchased their first home at 734 Dogwood, where they raised a family of three sons, Jon, Dan and Mike.
After Paul retired, they spent the next 27 years as snowbirds on the road, traveling together, then they moved to Boise in 1998. When Paul passed away in 2005, Margaret and her younger sister Cecilia bought a home together until Margaret moved into Plantation Place Assisted Living, where she ended life's journey.
Her niece once asked if she believed in the life hereafter, and Margaret said, "Yes but we can only live one life at a time". Margaret loved baby ducks because to her they symbolized life's true innocence. She believed that people were inherently good, and she was kind to everyone. She lived her life as she lived with her faith, honest and true. She was a giver and a true inspiration to her family.
Margaret is survived by her sons, Jon and his wife Ann, Danny and his wife Becky, and her son Mike, her grandchildren Kyleigh Vestal, Keegan Vestal, Patrick Vestal, Katy Vestal, Jon Vestal Jr., Margaret Ann Rider, and her Great Grandchildren Casey Rider, Vestal Rider, Lindsey Vestal, Van Vestal and Ryan Vestal.
A Rosary will be held Thursday August 21st at 7:00 p.m. at Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel 5400 Fairview Ave., Boise, Idaho 83606. 208-376-5400
Graveside services will be at 3:00 pm August 23rd, at Mountain View Cemetery in Pocatello, Idaho.
Please join us for a celebration of Margaret's life at the Clarion Inn after the graveside services.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue.
And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.
- Irish Blessing