Arlene Drake

Arlene Drake passed away Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in Boise at the Ashley Manor Assisted Living Center from a traumatic head injury.

Arlene was born July 16, 1932, in Menan to Robert Leon Hawker and Ema Gardner Thompson Hawker. She was one of nine children, two siblings died shortly after birth: brother, Robert (Bob) Hawker, and sisters Donna Simon, Geneva Russell, Phyllis Rob, Hazel Ottens and Janice Todd.

Arlene married Wayne Hofhines of Auburn, Wyo., and with daughter Christina Reeves in tow added five more children: LaWayne, Cheryl, Brad, Lana and Jay. They divorced and she married Paul Neidig and gave birth to her seventh child, Tina Louise. They divorced, and she married her husband of 47 years, Ronald J. Drake, now deceased. Together they had two towheads, Leon and Sandy.

She was a wonderful mother and spent much of her time getting the family together for camping and fishing trips. She was an avid fisherwoman and loved the outdoors. She was the center of activity at family parties and the glue that held family activities together. She was a favorite aunt of many, and she was the favorite resident as expressed by the staff at Ashley Manor. She had a charismatic personality that made people want to be around her, and many were influenced by her big heart and self-sacrificing spirit.

She was loved and will be deeply missed by all of her seven surviving children: Christina (Tucker) Evans, Cheryl (Al) Morgan, Brad (Debbie) Hofhines, Lana (Jim) Barlow, Tina Neidig, Leon (Annette) Drake and Sandy (Van) Tuckett; 22 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

Your friends and family will miss you dearly.

She was preceded in death by her husbands; two children, LaWayne Hofhines and Jay Hofhines; and five siblings, Geneva Russell, Phyllis Rob, Hazel Ottens and two infants.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, May 25, at Wood Funeral Home, 273 N. Ridge Ave. in Idaho Falls. The family will visit with friends from 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Friday prior to the services at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Annis cemetery in Menan after the funeral services conclude.

Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.woodfuneralhome.com.