Look at my treasure!

Thu., Dec. 15, 2005

Cheryl-Anne Millsap cam@spokesman.com

Jeanette Ide keeps a treasure on the mantle in her living room. The framed collage of brooches, bracelets, pins and earrings - arranged in the shape of a topiary – is a sparkling reminder of a loved one.

In 1963, Frank and Jeanette Ide, a military family, arrived in Spokane. They didn’t know a soul in town but knew that Frank’s uncle, Ken Ide, lived here.

“Frank had never met his uncle because he had grown up in a military family, too.” Ide said. “When we got to Spokane, we knocked on Uncle Ken’s door and introduced ourselves.”

The couple, with their 13-month-old son, stayed with Uncle Ken, and his wife Betty, for a short time until they located a place of their own to live. Their relationship deepened with time.

“Oh, Ken and Betty adopted us and they became so special to our family,” Jeanette Ide said. “We adored them.”

Ken Ide worked as a buyer for URM in Spokane until he retired at the age of 65. After retiring he launched into a new hobby.

“He made Christmas trees out of old costume jewelry,” Jeanette Ide said. Ken Ide created four large costume jewelry trees and started a new project – a topiary with a starburst pin in the center – before he died unexpectedly in 1982 at age 69.

The topiary of beautiful rhinestone and blue crystals was unfinished. As a tribute to her husband’s uncle, Jeanette Ide decided to complete it.

Now it sits on the mantle in her living room. Each Christmas the tree made of beautiful pieces is brought out and put on display.

Occasionally, guests will see their own pieces, items they contributed to Ken Ide’s project.

“A 93-year-old woman looked at the topiary and said ‘That’s my pin. The star is my pin’,” Jeanette Ide said.

Because Ken Ide asked so many friends for donations of glittery costume pieces, Jeanette Ide is sure that others in Spokane may recognize their contributions.

“These things really are priceless to us, they are our treasures, Ide said. “Uncle Ken was our idol and we all loved him very much.”

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