Ida Roberts, 86

Ida W. Roberts, 86, of Nampa, formerly of Mountain Home, died Sunday, Feb. 26, 2006.

A funeral service to celebrate her life will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, March 3, at the LDS Stake Center in Mountain Home, 1150 N. 8th East St. A viewing will be held on Friday from 9:15-10:15 a.m. at the Mountain Home LDS Stake Center. Internment and graveside services will follow at 4 p.m. at the Shelley Cemetery in Shelley, Idaho. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.

Ida was born July 2, 1919, to Abraham and Cecilia Marie Winward in Preston, Idaho, the seventh in a family of nine children. She grew up in Whitney, graduating from Preston High School, and later attended Utah State Agricultural College, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Education.

She married Max Dee Roberts in Driggs, Idaho, on Nov. 1, 1941. A year after their marriage, Max was drafted and sent to Iran for three years. Six months after he went overseas, Ida delivered a set of twins (Max Dee and Ida Lee) and was fortunate to have the help of relatives while he was away, her family noted. Three years later a second son, Dewey Carl, was born. They lived for many years in Blackfoot, Idaho, where Max sold cars. They also lived briefly in Salmon and Atomic City.

They moved to Mountain Home in 1963 where Ida taught junior high PE and English for 19 years.

"Ida was loved by her students and continued to hear from them well into her retirement years," her family said.

"For 55 years Max and Ida were an inseparable pair, enjoying family, horses, hunting, fishing, and the many friends who stopped by their home each day. Ida was quite the horsewoman, even having her day as rodeo queen, and they were a perfect pair with Max's hobby of training and riding cutting horses.

"Ida was truly a hard-working pioneer woman who stepped out to become successful in her career while maintaining a balance in the home life," her family said. "She took great pride in her own appearance and that of her family, thinking nothing of doing the work to make it all happen.

"She was a wonderful cook whose homemade rolls, dressings, cranberry salads and pecan rolls were the envy of any potluck dinner, and every night the family sat down to a wonderful home-cooked meal, more often than not, with a friend who just happened by."

The family added that the Roberts' home on the edge of town was "a haven for their grandchildren as well as for the many local and military families they befriended over the years. Friends dropped by daily to sit and talk, have a pop or dessert, and just enjoy the presence of these wonderful people and the calm they brought to a busy world."

Ida is survived by: a daughter, Lee Diderickson, and her husband, Duayne, of Eagle; two sons, Dee Roberts of Caldwell and his fiance, Cindy, and Dewey Roberts of Mountain Home and his wife, Suzanne); one sister, Cecilia Jensen and her husband, George, of Reno, Nev.; one brother-in-law, Dell Roberts and his wife, Margaret, of Blackfoot; sisters-in-law, Marcile James and her husband, Lynn, of Hyde Park, Utah, and Darlene Williams and her husband, Boyd, of Blackfoot, June Winward of Pocatello and Maurine Winward, of Provo, Utah; seven grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Max; five brothers, Russell, Glen, Morris, Whit, and Leon, and two sisters, Grace and Harriet.