Obituary: Shaver, Rhea
Age 83
Rhea was born May 15, 1929 to Bruce and Florence (Holmgren) Mefford in Missoula, Montana.
She attended grade school and high school in Missoula.
She loved going to her parents’ lake cabin in Flathead Lake, MT for fun and recreation.
After high school she married Morris S. Ulrigg.
She divorced and moved to Spokane in February of 1963 with three children.
Rhea married Melvin D. Granberg in 1965.
Together they managed apartment complexes, and later she went to cosmetology school and operated her own beauty business within their home.
Mel was a great father to Rhea’s three children and thought of the children as his own.
He is still loved and adored as their father.
Rhea did volunteer work for the Senior Volunteers for the Spokane Police Department for ten years.
Mel died in 1995 and at that time the Spokane Police Department hired her to work in the Traffic Department, where she worked until June of 1996.
In late 1995 she met Dean Shaver and after a whirlwind romance, Rhea and Dean moved in together and were married on her 70th birthday, May 15th, 1999.
They enjoyed dancing three nights per week at the Eagles and enjoyed playing cards with friends.
About six months later she had a major stroke and, while in rehab to learn to walk again, her son, Gregg, died of a heart attack.
From that time forward she needed a cane or a walker for mobility.
This did not detour her for her lust for life, so they traveled to Missoula many times, including class reunions and to Enterprise, Oregon for visits with Dean’s aged mother.
They also traveled to Sacramento, California to visit Dean’s daughter, Jenny and son-in-law, Keith.
Rhea joined a ceramics group, later becoming the assistant leader.
Rhea has dozens of ceramic pieces throughout Spokane.
About two years before her death, she had another major stroke which vastly decreased her memory, health and strength.
Even though Rhea battled with dementia, she never forgot the faces of her family and close friends.
Rhea was preceded in death by her father and mother, a son, Gregg Lee Ulrigg, and an infant son, Grant Dee Ulrigg.
Rhea is survived by her husband of almost 13 years, Dean Shaver; two daughters, Gayle Dohnal (Post Falls) and Gwen Ashcraft (Spokane); grandchildren, Heather Maynard, Britnee Outen, Carissa Outen, Brandi Norris, Brian Evers, Stephen Peterson, and numerous great-grandchildren.
A Memorial Service will be held at 10am on Saturday, April 6th at Thornhill Valley Chapel, 1400 S. Pines Rd., Spokane Valley, WA.