Ethel Mae (Lewis) Lovell passed away Sunday, April 3, 2022, after a mercifully short battle with cancer. She was born June 20, 1938, to Henry (Hank) and Mabel Lewis in Bath, N.Y. She lived and attended school in Warrensburg, N.Y., through the seventh grade. In 1951, Hank’s employer moved his lumber mill from New York to a site 8 miles out of Elk River. So Ethel, who was not too excited about the move, set off on a life-changing adventure with her parents, younger sister Beverly and a few other families. The group lived in tents while the mill was set up and a few homes were slapped together for the workers before winter. She graduated from Elk River High School in 1957 and was valedictorian of the largest class ever to graduate from ERHS (16). She married Everett Lovell (ERHS class of 1954) on Dec. 7, 1957, and was happy to be a mother and homemaker until she and Everett purchased the general store in Elk River in 1970. After Everett passed away in 1981, she sold half the business to the Molsee family and Lovell’s Market was transformed into Huckleberry Heaven. In 1993, she sold her interest in the business and moved to Asotin. She continued to work, first as a secretary for the Nazarene church in Lewiston, and later as a substitute aide for the Asotin School District.

Mom’s greatest joy in life was being a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She spent countless hours traveling to and watching games, performances and activities that her kids and grandkids were involved in. We have all lost our biggest fan.

Always up for an adventure, she loved to travel and was able to see and experience many places in the world. Her weekly lunches with whom she referred to as “the lunch ladies” was also something she always enjoyed (you were all very special to her).

She is survived by her children, Ron and Jackie Lovell, Lynn and Jeff Edison, and Lisa and Rick Swearingen; as well as 10 grandchildren and 12 (soon to be 13) great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed by all of us.