Obituary: English, Mabelle C.
Age 99
“I was blind, but now I see…”
May 16, 1912 - March 9, 2012
God’s Garden
God looked around his garden,
And He found an empty place.
He then looked down upon this earth,
And saw your tired face.
He put His arms around you, and lifted you to rest;
God’s garden must be beautiful,
He only takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering,
He knew that you were in pain.
He knew that you would never get well on earth again,
so He closed your weary eyelids,
and whispered “Peace be thine.
“
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
~unknown~
Mabelle Cleda English, 99, passed quietly into the arms of the Lord, March 9, 2012.
Mabelle was born May 16, 1912 at Sumner, Nebraska to Nettie D. (Phillips) and Abram I. Stryker.
As a young child, Mabelle professed her love for the Lord and was baptized in the Platt River in October, 1920.
She was a member of the Christian Church in Overton, Nebraska, and in Coeur d’Alene, ID.
Mabelle continued to be active in the Christian Church for her entire life.
After graduating from high school, Mabelle attended Kearney State Teachers’ College in Kearney, Nebraska.
She taught school in a one-room rural school for three years and loved both her work and her students.
She met the love of her life, George A. English, and they were married May 19, 1934.
Mabelle and George farmed in Nebraska until the fall of 1936 when the Dust Bowl and other natural disasters made it impossible to make a living as farmers in Nebraska.
They moved to Coeur d’Alene where they have lived since that time.
Mabelle worked in a number of businesses in Coeur d’Alene including Montgomery Wards, Liberty National Insurance Company, the Coeur d’Alene Insurance Company; and finishing her career in the insurance department of First Federal Savings and Loan until her retirement in 1977.
She also owned and operated “The Viking”, a small school bookstore (selling textbooks and school supplies for the junior high and senior high school) and hamburger lunch counter on Seventh Street across from what at the time was the junior high school.
Mabelle loved to crochet, work crossword puzzles, read and garden until her eyesight was lost to macular degeneration.
Mabelle was a very happy person and loved her life.
She often talked about going from horse and buggy days to a man on the moon.
She was very much in awe of the advances in technology that she witnessed during her lifetime.
Mabelle’s family was the most important thing in her life; and she was always there for each one, whether it be her husband, a sister, her brother, or her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter.
Mabelle was preceded in death by her husband, George, in February 1995 as well as her parents, two sisters and one brother.
Survivors include daughter Chris and husband Gene Donat, Moses Lake, WA; granddaughter Kaysie Donat and her lifetime partner, Angie Whitcraft, Longview, WA.
At Mabelle’s request, there will be no services.
Memorials may be sent to Idaho Talking Books for the Blind, 325 W. State Street, Boise, ID 83702 or Hospice of North Idaho, 9493 N. Government Way, Hayden, ID 83835.
ENGLISH FUNERAL CHAPEL, COEUR D’ALENE, is in care of the arrangements.
Please sign Mabelle’s guest registry and view online memorial at www.englishfuneralchapel.com.