Lorene Mae Eagle Fitzhugh was born on a cold February 3, 1925 to Stanley Forrest and Emma Karoline Eagle in Wilbur, Washington. She was the third of her four children, Art, Violet and Verna. Lorene and her siblings grew up on a small farm just outside of town, 10km south of Wilbur.
When the Great Depression hit her town like the rest of the country, her family never went hungry as their farm provided them with what they needed but not much more. Until Lorene was a teenager, the Eagles didn’t even have an indoor installation. The girls rode to school on their horse, which waited in the school barn until the day was over. Those years of getting by with what little they had left Lorene weak and strong. When her sisters got mumps, Emma let Lorene miss school for a week and sleep between the two sick sisters, hoping that Lorene would get mumps too to get it over with. But as would become a pattern for Lorene, she would not be brought down so easily. She never got mumps, despite the close quarters.
Like when girls are rowdy and strong, Lorene grew up to be a brave woman, a fighter, traits she seemingly infused into her DNA and left as a legacy for the women who would come after her. As a teenager, when World War II broke into her life, she resorted to dating younger men because all boys her age were either soldiers who had enlisted or 4F-ers who, according to Lorene, weren’t worth dating dating due to their lack of common sense.
She took accounting classes after high school and was top of her class, which would prepare her to run her own beauty salon later in life.
One day, in the middle of the war, Lorene decided to visit her older sister Violet in California, who had moved there to be closer to her husband who was fighting in the war. She rented a room from a woman named Nora Fitzhugh. During Lorene’s visit, Nora’s son, Ray, a young seaman, came home with a four-day pass from San Francisco, where he was stationed. His intentions of saying a quick hello to his mother and then spending the weekend with the other sailors were immediately changed when he saw Lorene in the kitchen of his mother’s house. He stayed all weekend and Lorene and Ray fell in love.
After his weekend, Ray returned to his ship, where he eventually sailed to the Pacific, where Lorene kept writing him 18-page letters so thick he couldn’t keep up with the delivery of last month’s mail. He would pass them around for the other soldiers to read.
At another point when Ray was stationed off the Seattle coast, Lorene was living in Tacoma, where she had a severe reaction to the scarlet fever vaccine. She was quarantined but recovered quickly, in true Lorene fashion.
In 1946, Lorene boarded a train in Washington and rode it – all alone – to San Diego. They married in Yuma, Arizona, in the fall, with Lorene wearing a blue suit. They lived together in a boarding house in San Diego. Not long after their marriage, on June 12, 1947, they had their daughter, Marcia Rae. Shortly thereafter, they moved up the coast to Tule Lake, where Ray had leased a ranch and worked for the railroad. They made a living there and Lorene got her very first birthday present: a beautiful green dress from her husband. They gave birth to their son Steven Kenneth on October 10, 1950.
The family moved extensively in the early years, eventually returning to Washington, where Lorene was a tough farm woman, a savvy businesswoman, and a courageous mother. She mourned the death of her parents in 1952, both of whom died at the same time in a car accident around Christmas time. In Deer Park, Washington, Lorene destroyed snakes with shovels, butchered chickens, scared away stray dogs, and kept the farm running. She went to beauty school and opened a salon where her daughter would come visit after school. Although they didn’t have much money, she made fashionable clothes for her daughter. The two would choose styles that Marcy liked and Lorene would sew them – without even having to use a pattern.
After Deer Park, the family moved to Spokane, where Ray taught at Northwest Christian, where Marcy and Steve attended. In the late 1950s, Lorene’s life and profession changed again. She gave up her cosmetics business to become a pastor’s wife after Ray decided to become a pastor.
In the late 1960s the family moved again to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where Marcy lived with John Fearey, the Fitzhugh’s new son-in-law. In 1970 their first grandchild Mark was born. Melissa, Matthew and Melody soon followed. And that changed everything.
Lorene was a very dedicated grandmother. John and Marcy’s children loved them very much and spent many happy nights in their house. She hosted a Sunday lunch and a post-service breakfast on Sunday evening each week. She was very skilled at baking, and her recipes will forever go down in the family: almond roca, pies, frozen fruit salads, glorified rice, double delights, banana bread, croissant rolls… and her blueberry pies will also remain a fond memory. She taught her grandchildren to bake, knit, and be resourceful, and took them on trips in the summer.
She started painting in the 80’s and was very prolific. She taught Mark to paint in high school, and her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren carried bits of that artist gene with them as musicians, actors, writers, and painters. She showed us all how to look at the world with gentleness and wonder, how to pay attention to those around us, and how to see with grace.
In 1986, Ray and Lorene moved to their land near Priest River, Idaho when Marcy and John moved their family to Texas. They then moved to Ohio in 1987, and Mark lived with them while he studied at Ohio Bible College, where Ray taught. In 1988 the Fearey’s followed.
In 1992, Ray and Lorene moved to Brewster, Washington with the intention of retiring. They wanted to live closer to Lorene’s younger sister Verna and also to Ray’s family members. During this time they traveled the world visiting their son Steve several times in Alaska for deep sea fishing and other adventures.
The Fearey’s, this time with another son-in-law in tow, moved back to Idaho in 1993. In 1994, Ray and Lorene decided they wanted to be closer to their grandchildren again. They moved to Boise in 1994 and briefly lived with John and Marcy.
Lorene took up yet another form of art – always so clever and imaginative – and made incredible cross stitch pieces for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the first of whom was born in December 1995.
Ray and Lorene lived the last part of their lives together and loved their family in Idaho and Arizona. They were the first to hear about pregnancies (Lorene was in the hospital with Melissa when she found out she was pregnant with their first daughter, Alyssa) and engagements (woken up in the middle of the night by an excited Melody who had just arrived). engaged to her boyfriend Dave).
They moved to a mobile home in Boise and became an important part of the community there. Lorene spent her days looking after great-granddaughters Alyssa and Abigail while their parents worked, playing cards and games with her daughter, grandchildren and friends, walking their dog Emmie, and riding the horses in the fields with Melissa and Alyssa to feed on Mitchell Road. She loved playing Uno, Trionimos, Pinochle, and Tripoley (now all family favorites).
During this time, Ray worked for the Job Corps and then began pastoring a church in Adrian, Oregon. Lorene became a pastor’s wife again and spent her time serving and loving her community in her small church.
In 2011, while returning from a trip to Arizona to visit Steve and her grandson Mark, Ray and Lorene were involved in a horrific car accident that left Lorene’s mobility never the same. In 2017, the two moved into Grace Assisted Living and became friends there as well. She loved socializing and visiting her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and especially loved playing bingo with them. While with Grace, she fell and fractured her hip, further reducing her mobility. She was incredibly strong and never gave up.
In July 2020, following the outbreak of COVID, Ray and Lorene moved into John and Marcy’s home where Lorene remained so loved and cared for while continuing to participate and move on in family life. Even in her final days, she was connected to her family through constant prayer until her death on February 8, 2023 at 6:07 p.m.
Lorene is preceded in death by her parents Stanley and Emma Eagle, her brother Art, and sisters Violet and Verna.
Lorene is survived by her husband Ray Fitzhugh, their children John and Marcy Fearey and Steve Fitzhugh and their grandchildren Mark Fearey and his wife Tori and daughter Olivia, Melissa Stadtlander and her husband Jon and their children Alyssa, Abigail and Nate. Matt Fearey and his wife Lori and their children Hannah, Chloe, Jack, Luke and Thea, and Melody Mitchell and her husband Dave and their children Emma, Sam, Rose, Jasper, Karoline and Jaden. She is also survived by her nieces Sandra and Gayle Eagle and Penny Lewis, her nephew Kevin Eagle and Bill Sullivan and their families.
Her service will be at 2:00 p.m. at True Hope Collister, 4709 W State St, Boise, ID 83703. All are welcome to participate and we look forward to celebrating Lorene’s life with you.
Published by Bella Vida Funeral Home from March 7 to March 8, 2023.
34465541-95D0-45B0-BEEB-B9E0361A315ATo plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
