Edna (Eddie Mae) Alling Pfeifer

Edna (Eddie Mae) Alling Pfeifer, age 82, passed away on Wednesday, June 6, 2012, in East Wenatchee, Wash., at the Highline Care Center. Eddie was born November 27, 1929, in Almira, Wash., to Benjamin and Edna Alling. She graduated from Almira High School, Class of 1947. On February 22, 1948, she married Cecil Pfeifer at the Alling family home in Almira.

Her formative years were spent in Almira (during the nine months school was in session) and on the Alling family ranch north of Grand Coulee, (during the three months of summer vacation).

Over the span of her life she worked at many different jobs, including butchering turkeys at a turkey farm, driving wheat truck, flagging for a spray pilot, serving as Wilson Creek, town clerk for 10 years, and taking the town marshal duties in Wilson Creek for the midnight to 4 a.m. shift. After her divorce in 1980, she worked as a certified nursing assistant at the Columbia Basin Nursing Home in Ephrata, Washington.

Eddie was very active in many organizations. She was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and Eight and Forty, the Rebekah Lodge, the Grange (seventh degree), VFW Auxiliary, Grand Coulee Dam Area Seniors, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

For most of her life she lived in Wilson Creek, and a few years in Ephrata. In 1992 she moved to Electric City, and in 2003 she moved into the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Manor in Grand Coulee.

She was preceded in death by her 22-month-old daughter Charlene; her parents Benjamin and Edna Alling, her sisters Zelia Sanderson, Nell Trefry, and Benna Scott; her brothers Joe Alling, George Alling, Norman (Deke) Alling and Jim Alling.

She is survived by a sister, June Weber of Moses Lake, and five children: Ron Pfeifer (Bienvenida) of Randle, Wash.; Sandi Pfeifer of College Place, Wash.; Debbie Pfeifer Bilodeau (Les) of Kennewick, Wash.; Heidi Whitney of East Wenatchee; and Mark Pfeifer (Erika) of El Paso, Texas. She is also survived by 11 grandchildren: Jason Pfeifer (Stephanie) of Pullman, Wash.; Nathan Pfeifer of Seattle; Adrian Pfeifer of Seattle; Chalese Rabidue of College Place; Starr Carroll of Moses Lake; Raymond Grove of Phoenix, Ariz.; Lacey Grove of Redmond, Wash.; Adam Pfeifer of Sonora, Calif.; Patrick Pfeifer (Nicole) of Baumholder, Germany; Keyton Bilodeau of Des Moines, Wash.; and Jadon Bilodeau of Soap Lake; and by six great-grandchildren: Alex Pfeifer, Kaleb Pfeifer, Ian Calhoon, Ava Calhoon, Jaime Pfeifer and Annika Pfeifer; as well as many, many nieces and nephews.

One of the greatest joys in Eddie’s life was time spent at Swan Lake on the Republic Ranger District of the Colville National Forest. She had a life-long love affair with the lake. Eddie was first introduced to Swan Lake by her older brother Joe when she was 10 years old. Joe took her and a bunch of the neighboring farm kids to the lake in the back of an old truck. When she had kids of her own she introduced them to Swan Lake, and they would camp there with numerous aunts and cousins for two to three weeks each summer. In her later years she was asked by the Forest Service to be the camp host at the lake’s campground, which she did for about 12 years. She thoroughly enjoyed helping her camping customers and working with the ranger district recreation staff.

Per Eddie’s wishes, cremation will be performed under the direction of Strate Funeral Home of Grand Coulee. A memorial celebration of Eddie’s life will take place later in the summer. A notification of the memorial’s location and date will be posted at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.