Mildred Sauer always cared about others

Mildred E. Sauer, a talented artist loved by family and friends, died Sept. 2, in Coeur d’Alene. She lived a long, blessed life and would have been 100 this month.

“She was very special – as my mom, and also as my best friend,” says daughter Jane A. Johnson, CEO emeritus for Spokane’s Museum of Arts and Culture.

Raised in Minot, N.D., Sauer was born to Jarvis H. and Jennie (Sarah Jane McLean) Tompkins, on Oct. 12, 1905, in Minot. After graduating from high school, she received her bachelor’s degree from Minot State Teachers College and taught history at Granville High School in North Dakota.

She married her college sweetheart, Darold Sauer, on Aug. 19, 1931. They moved to Cut Bank, Mont., in 1935, and opened their first Ben Franklin variety store. They lived in a railroad car owned by Jim Hill, the American railroad financier.

The Sauers opened another store in Shelby, Mont., with Darold’s sister, Ruth V. Sauer. In 1939, the couple moved to Sandpoint and owned another store there. Darold Sauer died in 1979.

“Mom missed Dad,” Johnson said. “She would sometimes say, ‘I wonder why I’m still here.’ Then she’d smile and say, ‘I must still need polishing.’ ”

Sauer was an accomplished artist, though few knew, as she rarely mentioned it to others. She painted portraits, some of Blackfeet Indians; scenes of North Idaho; and landscapes of Glacier National Park and the Arizona desert, primarily in oils. In addition, she painted scenics on miniature wooden frames and rendered pen-and-ink sketches of wildlife for stationery, which was sold throughout Western Montana and to the Great Northern Railroad Co. for resale at the Glacier Park hotels.

Her first showing wasn’t until her 93rd birthday. And her last oil painting, before she became legally blind in 1987, was of Lake Louise, where the Sauers honeymooned.

None of her painting’s hung in her room at Life Care Center in Sandpoint; only a depiction of Jesus adorned her walls. Sauer later moved to Life Care Center of Coeur d’Alene to be near her two children, eight grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and her great-great grandchild.

Her son, Darold Sauer, lives in Plummer with his wife, Jane. Her daughter lives in Spokane with her husband, Everett P. “Phil,” Johnson.

“Mom was like a ‘second mom,’ to Phil,” her daughter said.

And she was a caring friend.

“One time, Mom was traveling with her best friend, Mrs. Ross (Hazel) Hall, in Canada,” she recalled. “They got pulled over, and Mom said to Hazel, ‘You flirt, and I’ll pray.’ “

Hall remembers her friend.

“Have you ever had a friend, so close, you could talk about anything; kid around; make fun; borrow anything, even her best dress (and ruin it); and know, no matter what, you’re friends forever through Christ?”

Dr. Robert H. Mounce, president emeritus of Whitworth College, knew Sauer since childhood.

“It’s difficult to speak too highly of Mildred,” he said. “She was a remarkable woman, with great empathy for every human being she met. She was strong in her Christian commitment, concerned about the welfare of others and always up to any challenge that would benefit someone else. Her faith was strong, and she ministered to others less apt to have made their peace with God through Jesus Christ.”

Not surprisingly, Mildred preferred Christian music. Two of her favorite songs were “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and “Amazing Grace.”

Sauer experienced three miracles. At the age of 8 her appendix ruptured and gangrene developed. After her son’s birth, doctors discovered a 14-pound tumor, but it wasn’t malignant. In Hope, Idaho, Mildred had a cerebral hemorrhage, and doctors said without a miracle, she’d be paralyzed, or die. Neither happened.

The dedication she felt for her faith extended to her family and outside activities.

“Although Mom helped in the store, she was a homemaker. She cooked our meals, and we ate together as a family. She was active in PEO in Sandpoint and the Presbyterian church there.”

The entire family traveled together, and on their last big trip they spent six weeks in Europe visiting England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, where Sauer’s mother was from. The Sauers traveled on one trip, from San Francisco to Australia, with former Montana Gov. J. Hugo Aronson, known as “The Galloping Swede.”

The family spent happy years at its cabin in Hope, on Lake Pend Oreille. One highlight of Sauer’s life was when she and her husband helped build a chapel in Hope. After her husband’s death the steeple was added and dedicated to his memory. Mildred Sauer traveled across the country searching for a bell. After finding it in Minnesota she had it delivered to the church.

Granddaughter P.J. wrote a poem in memory of her grandmother. One of the stanzas says: “Setting the example/You taught us how to forgive/Thru your gift of understanding/You showed us how to live.”

A memorial folder of Sauer given out at her funeral quoted the words of Proverbs 31. The words extol the praises of a virtuous woman.

“Mom radiated love and understanding; and her love was unconditional,”her son said.

After the funeral, Sauer’s great-granddaughter, Jodie Miller, said, “I can still feel Grandma’s presence.”

Mildred E. Sauer’s presence and memory will be felt for generations to come.