Obituary for Stella Anita Lear
Stella Anita Lear passed away Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in Lewiston. Anita was born to Leonard and Stella (Scott) Stewart on May 8, 1934, in Lapwai where her father was the chief of police. She was the third of six children born to Leonard and Stella. The family then moved to Pierce, where Leonard would work in the logging industry. Anita would attend all 12 years of school there and graduate from Pierce High School.
While living in Pierce, she met Bill Lear at a dance and they were married Sept. 16, 1951, a union that lasted 60 years. They welcomed four daughters: Kathy (1953), Vickie (1957), Rebecca (passed as an infant 1959) and Teresa (1962). The family lived in many locations, following woods work from Idaho to California and four years in Missouri.
Anita loved many outdoor activities such as camping, riding her four-wheeler, fishing (not the eating), picking huckleberries, hunting (shot her last deer at age 83), watching Gonzaga basketball games and yard sales. She held many jobs in her lifetime such as store owner, cashier, 4-H leader, assembly line worker, aid in the Weippe Middle School and Lewiston Alternative School, carpenter’s assistant, and her last job working at Kings in Orofino where she met many good friends like Laura and Rocky Wolverton. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, sister and a friend to so many, she will be missed. She was a longtime member of the Church of Christ.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Bill, infant daughter Rebecca, infant great-granddaughter Cheyenne; brothers: Sonny Stewart (Janet), Gary Stewart; and sisters Beryl Spencer (Hank) and Nona Davis (John); and sisters-in-law Berta Mae Schow (Glenn) and Roberta Spencer.
She is survived by daughters: Kathy McKnight (Bob), Vickie Preston (Dan) and Teresa Wickizer (Larry); grandchildren: Dan McKnight (Indy), Tom McKnight, Craig Preston (Amanda), Anna Preston (Aaron), Willy Wickizer and Wade Wickizer; great-grandchildren: Storm McKnight, Skylar McKnight, Alisha Garcia, Xavier McKnight, Rikki Wickizer and Adleigh Plank; and great-great-granddaughter, Laney McKnight; brother, Dick Stewart; brother-in-law, Ben Lear (Linda); and sisters-in-law, Shirley Stewart and Nancy Stewart. She is survived by numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, friends and special friends: Mark and Lisa Ponozzo, and their children Adam and Mariah.
A graveside service is planned for the end of April at the Pierce Cemetery, snow level permitting.
While living in Pierce, she met Bill Lear at a dance and they were married Sept. 16, 1951, a union that lasted 60 years. They welcomed four daughters: Kathy (1953), Vickie (1957), Rebecca (passed as an infant 1959) and Teresa (1962). The family lived in many locations, following woods work from Idaho to California and four years in Missouri.
Anita loved many outdoor activities such as camping, riding her four-wheeler, fishing (not the eating), picking huckleberries, hunting (shot her last deer at age 83), watching Gonzaga basketball games and yard sales. She held many jobs in her lifetime such as store owner, cashier, 4-H leader, assembly line worker, aid in the Weippe Middle School and Lewiston Alternative School, carpenter’s assistant, and her last job working at Kings in Orofino where she met many good friends like Laura and Rocky Wolverton. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, sister and a friend to so many, she will be missed. She was a longtime member of the Church of Christ.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Bill, infant daughter Rebecca, infant great-granddaughter Cheyenne; brothers: Sonny Stewart (Janet), Gary Stewart; and sisters Beryl Spencer (Hank) and Nona Davis (John); and sisters-in-law Berta Mae Schow (Glenn) and Roberta Spencer.
She is survived by daughters: Kathy McKnight (Bob), Vickie Preston (Dan) and Teresa Wickizer (Larry); grandchildren: Dan McKnight (Indy), Tom McKnight, Craig Preston (Amanda), Anna Preston (Aaron), Willy Wickizer and Wade Wickizer; great-grandchildren: Storm McKnight, Skylar McKnight, Alisha Garcia, Xavier McKnight, Rikki Wickizer and Adleigh Plank; and great-great-granddaughter, Laney McKnight; brother, Dick Stewart; brother-in-law, Ben Lear (Linda); and sisters-in-law, Shirley Stewart and Nancy Stewart. She is survived by numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, friends and special friends: Mark and Lisa Ponozzo, and their children Adam and Mariah.
A graveside service is planned for the end of April at the Pierce Cemetery, snow level permitting.