Lois Bastida

Lois Bel Bastida, 94, a long-time resident of Mountain Home, passed away peacefully Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2016, at The Cottages in Mountain Home. Services will be held on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, at 11 a.m. at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel. Burial will follow at Mountain View Cemetery in Mountain Home.

Lois was born on July 13, 1922, in Bradley, Okla. She moved to the Treasure Valley as a teenager with her parents and younger brother, Bob. It was there she met and married Kenneth Burley, and they had their two children, Patty Jo and Keith.

They farmed in the Marsing area for several years before moving to Mountain Home. Kenneth and Lois later divorced.

While in Mountain Home, Lois met and married Gene Oyarzabal, the son of a Basque sheep rancher. They would have four children, Anita, Mary Ellen, Gino and Mike. Lois worked as a clerk at several stores in Mountain Home: The Home Market, DeMeyer Drug Store and the Merc.

At the age of 56, she attended truck driving school in Wyoming and then became a team driver with Gene. They worked for Willis Shaw for several years before finally retiring.

She so loved traveling and exploring the United States, coming home with great stories and photographs. She had those many memories to share with others after Gene's passing in 1987.

Lois loved to dance, play slots, cook, fish, grow flowers, pick mushrooms and create beautiful color combinations on her ceramics. If one had to pick her absolute favorite activity though, it would be dancing.

And so when she married Peter Bastida in 1989, it was the love of dancing that they shared. They danced as long as their legs would keep moving. Lois had the opportunity of becoming better acquainted with Pete's adult children, Maggie and Terry, while Pete was able to share stories of their childhood.

Lois also enjoyed listening to Pete's many stories of growing up in Nevada, antics with his brother, Ed, and of his Basque heritage. And so with Pete's passing in 2002, Lois remained a widow for the remainder of her life.

While still able, Lois made many trips to Jackpot, played pinochle at the Senior Center and enjoyed her meetings with the American Legion Auxiliary, Mother Cabrini Society and the Elkettes.

Lois was preceded in death by her parents, Ralph and Grace Grimmer; brother Bob; husbands Kenneth Burley, Gene Oyarzabal and Peter Bastida; sons Gino Oyarzabal and Mike Oyarzabal; and grandson Patrick Gilbert. She is survived by daughters Patty Jo Austin of Moses Lake, Wash.; Anita Pilar Gagne (Robert) of Hopewell, Va.; and Mary Ellen Gilbert (Leo) of Nampa; son Keith Eugene Burley of Florida; stepdaughter Margaret Rule (John) of Nampa; stepson Terry Rypkema (Jody) of Flagstaff, Ariz.; 11 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

The family would like to give special thanks to the staff of The Cottages of Mountain Home for providing such a warm and home like environment for Lois and to Treasure Valley Hospice for their compassionate and professional care.