Edith Fredrickson

Edith Fredrickson, long time resident of Blackfoot, passed away on April 21, 2023.

Edith was born on July 4^th in Burley, Idaho to Joseph Rex and Margaret Mahoney Fredrickson, residents of the Declo/Albion area.  She was raised for six years in Albion. Then the teacher’s college in Albion closed and her family moved to Blackfoot.

Edith enjoyed her life in Blackfoot. Her mother taught school and her father was storeroom manager for the State Hospital.  She had two older brothers, Steve and Stan. They spoiled her while teaching her many things.  Steve taught her to bowl which really paid off later. Stan taught her to swim and ice skate and how to shine his shoes and do his chores. He gave her a quarter for the chores. That was a lot of money for her.  She liked to mow the lawn.

At eight years old under the tutelage of Audrey Parrish, Edith became involved in 4-H Clubs of America and loved it. She supported that program until graduation from high school eventually with clubs of her own.

Edith loved high school. She had a great group of people graduating with her in the class of 1962.

She attended Idaho State University for her college degree. She and two roommates from Blackfoot found an apartment one block off campus which somehow, they managed to keep for four years.

She signed up to take bowling as her P.E. requirement.  Her instructor asked if she would like to try out for the university women’s bowling team, which she did.  She made the team, in fact became high average bowler of the team, thanks, Steve.  This allowed her to travel to most of the western states and in Colorado she won an all-expense trip to Minnesota to the NCAA Women’s National College Tournament.  Her final bowling thrill was her very last series on a fun, unsanctioned educators league. It was 210 240 + 276 = 726 series.

Edith went on to graduate from ISU in Elementary Education. She started teaching sixth grade at Blackfoot School District and was then asked to move to the middle school. She made the move and stayed happily for 14 years.

She took a trip to Orgon to visit a friend from Blackfoot and fell in love with the area. She returned to Blackfoot, resigned her job, and moved to Oregon. She became a tenured teacher in Beaverton, Oregon in 1987. Edith and her friend joined finances and bought a home to build some equity in it.

In 2017 Edith was diagnosed with cancer of the throat and after treatment it was gone. In 2018 it came back. Her friend got very ill with a disease of some kind. She passed away in 2019.  Edith visited Idaho for a while and decided to move back to Shelley by her family.

Edit was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Stanley.

She is survived by her brother, Steve (Charlotte) Fredrickson and their five sons, Stephen, Scott, Stacey, Stuart, and Shane.

Edith was cremated. Her ashes, along with her friends, will be scattered on her brother’s property in Island Park.

Edith wrote this obituary and hopes those who remember her do so with a smile.

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