Dorothy Marie Combs

She was born on 06/29/23 in Priest River, Idaho to her deceased parents Ivy & Arend Blonk. She spent her first 11 yrs. living on the Squaw Valley ranch in the Priest Lake region of Idaho. She loved those years growing up on the ranch. There were CC Camps that helped with the logging. She helped her mother feed the CC men. She had a Shetland Pony & a German Shepherd dog named Scout. She fished the creeks with her father & did the same with her daughter in the 50’s. She excelled in school & completed 8 grades in a one room school house. Her mother & she had to move to Priest River for her to attend high school. She didn’t miss milking the cows & having a cow step down on her foot. They stayed in a boarding house & her mother wad the housekeeper for the town doctor. At 15 yrs. old she graduated & moved to Spokane to attend Spokane Business College. Her 2 close girlfriends that she met in Priest River later moved to Spokane & the 3 families stayed close for the remainder of their lives.

Her parents sold the ranch & moved to Spokane in her 20’s along with her maternal grandmother. She started working at the Crescent Department Store in accounting. Next she worked at Kaiser Aluminum Mill in accounting while her father worked there as a guard. Next she was hired as a civil servant in the early 40’s & worked at the Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, CO until she had to return to Spokane due to her father’s heart condition. She lost her father & grandmother within 10 days of each other. Her mother started working at the Union Pacific Railroad. She went back to work at Kaiser & then met her future husband, Arthur Vietzke, and married in 1947 residing in Spokane. Her mother lived with them. They had a daughter Arlene, born in 1948. She started an accounting position at Vietzke Excavating. She was divorced in 1963 & continued working for the company part-time. During these years she enjoyed gardening along side her mother as well as creating ceramics. She made many beautiful pieces she displayed in her home. She started working at the Spokane Police Dept as a secretary between the years of 1962-1966. While continuing to work at the excavation company. She met her 2nd husband, Bert Combs. His sister was her sister-in-law from previous marriage. They were married in 1967 & she moved to Ballard, a suburb of Seattle. Her mother moved next door a few years later. She lived her life there & her family grew as Bert had 2 sons & 10 grandchildren. The sons were Jerry & Jim. Her daughter moved to the house after graduating from college. Bert & she enjoyed traveling in their Winnebago RV & fishing out if their bust.

Dorothy sold the house in Ballard 4 years after her husband died in 2005. In 2008, she was diagnosed with shingles on her face & scalp & her daughter had to come & care for her. She moved to an independent senior apartment at Sherwood Lodge in Sequim in 2013, where her daughter has a home. In 2013 her spinal vertebrae started collapsing causing her to have multiple falls. She had to move to an assisted living apartment in Pt. Angeles, WA. She started getting her first symptoms of dementia & had a bad fall 2 months later. She spent the next 3 months in a rehabilitation center. She next moved to Golden Years to a large 1 bedroom apartment & started having full time care. She enjoyed the beautiful gardens there & the grazing deer. She loved taking rides with her daughter until she failed to be able to get into a vehicle. Her COPD & dementia worsened. She resided there for 5 yrs. having the Hospice staff assisting with her needs. She enjoyed family & friends visiting. She continued to recognize her daughter but otherwise only remembered her life on the ranch.

Her cousins reside in Priest Lake and Spokane. Her mother and daughter would travel with her for weekend stays at her aunt’s 100 yr. old cabin at Outlet Resort in the 50’s & 60’s. She is also survived by her daughter Arlene Cox, her husband’s son Jerry & his children, grandchildren & great grandchildren. Her husband’s son Jim & one child is deceased but his children, grandchildren & great grandchildren live throughout the US.

She has always had that beautiful smile & will be missed with all her knowledge of plants & flowers. She had a great talent for arranging flower bouquets, crocheting & making candles.