Obituary of Margaret Rose Pritchett

Margaret Rose “Maggie” Pritchett (80) resident of St. Maries, ID, died March 16, 2015 at Kootenai Health. She was born July 13, 1934 to Horace and Clara (Osborne) Smith at Wickham Market, England. Maggie attended school until she was 15 years old. As was the custom of the country, she left school to go to work at age 15. Her first job was working for a canning factory. When she was 19, Maggie met Pete Pritchett where he was stationed with the U.S. Air Force. The two were married after a 7 year cross Atlantic courtship. They were married on October 3, 1959 in England. Pete and Maggie traveled extensively with his service in the Air Force. They traveled from base to base while they started their family. They moved to St. Maries in 1974 to make their permanent home close to family. Maggie was a homemaker, which allowed her to watch all of her grandchildren while her children worked; her grandchildren lovingly called her "Nan". Depending on your age, you were always offered sweets, hot dogs, Mountain Dew, or even Canadian Whiskey when entering Nan's house. She enjoyed bowling in her younger years. Other enjoyments included working jig-saw puzzles, crocheting, and visits to the Cd’A Casino with her sister, where they were known as Thelma and Louise by the employees. She enjoyed their river spot in the summer and enjoyed paddle boating up and down the St. Joe River. She spent every afternoon with her loving sister June. You would always see them together. On their trips paddle boating up and down the river, the sisters would fish with sticks and they used corn for bait. They didn’t like to touch worms or remove the fish from the hooks. Maggie is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law Karen and Greg Gibson and Teresa and Wayne Reid all of St. Maries and Denice and Ron Stone of Clinton Township, MI. Her brother Joe Smith in England, her sisters June Derry of St. Maries and Freda Clack of England. Also surviving are 8 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Graveside services will be Friday, March 20, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. at Woodlawn Cemetery. A gathering of family and friends will follow at the Senior Meal Site on Jefferson Ave. The family suggests memorials to the Charity of the Donor’s Choice. Visit her online memorial and sign her guest book at www.hodgefuneralhome.com