Obituary: Young, Hilda
Age 87
(Age 87)
Passed peacefully in the evening of August 2, 2012, in the Spokane Valley, after a lengthy period of declining health.
Now reunited with her late husband, Harvey, she is surely hiking with him in the mountains of Heaven!
Born in Huntington, W. VA. November 15, 1924, to Haller and Mary Bowman, Hilda the child was a tomboy with baseball and Monopoly skills that were said to be tops!
In the1940’s, she earned a BA in Psychology from Marshall College in Huntington and then pursued graduate studies at Washington State College in Pullman, WA.
There she met her future husband Harvey L. Young, a pre-med student from Chehalis, WA.
They married in 1949 while he was in medical school in New England.
Upon his graduation in 1952, they moved with their first child to Spokane where Harvey began his medical career.
Two more children were born by 1957.
Throughout the 1950’s and 60’s and into the 70’s, Hilda was a consummate mother and homemaker.
From the family home on East Main in the Spokane Valley, she chauffeured children to swim lessons and day camp, to Cub Scout and Camp Fire meetings, and to school events and outings of all types.
In addition to managing the household, she was skilled with knitting needles, gardening tools, and a tennis racquet.
With Harvey at first, and then later with the whole family, she hiked, camped, and backpacked the North Cascades or North Idaho nearly every summer—always on the lookout for huckleberries.
With Harvey, she enjoyed and supported several symphony and theatre groups in and around Spokane, and enjoyed cross-country skiing and walking or cycling the Centennial Trail.
They were devout, active members in the local and regional life of their church as Stewardship Associates and as supporters of the N-Sid-Sen church camp on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
From the 1970’s through the late 90’s, Hilda travelled the world — with Harvey until his death in 1991, and then with family or with a group of long-time friends from their WSC days, “The Same Company.”
Hilda is survived by her sister, Mary Bailey, of Burnsville, NC; by her children Stephen (Jane Fellows) of Portland, OR; Roger (Lynne) of Valleyford, WA; and Robin Cole (Mike) of Ellensburg, WA; grandchildren Reed and Kami Young; one niece and three nephews.
The family is grateful to the loving caregivers of Stillwaters Adult Family Home and Hospice of Spokane, and to Brighton Court.
A memorial service will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, October 13, 2012 at the Veradale United Church of Christ, 611 N. Progress Rd., Spokane Valley.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests gifts to Hospice of Spokane, to the Memorial Fund of the Veradale United Church of Christ, or to Spokane Public Broadcasting.