Stanna Lea LaPrath

Stanna Lea LaPrath, age 70, of Spokane, Washington, passed peacefully from this world to the next on October 11th, 2025, after a long and valiant battle with a complicated variety of medical conditions. She left this world tranquilly, her husband by her side. Her family is deeply grateful to the staff of Sacred Heart Medical Center for their compassion and care as she set off on her greatest adventure yet.

Born September 9th, 1955, to Lee and Myloa Stewart (LaFrance), Stanna was a bright, curious, and precocious child - qualities that served her well throughout life. She grew up on her family’s small farm, a place she often described as rich beyond measure - full of forts, horses, and enough mischief to keep her parents guessing. For much of her youth, she was an avid and overachieving Girl Scout (with all the badges and summers at camp to prove it). She loved nature and animals deeply, and often said animals were far better company than most people.

Stanna attended Alcott Grade School, Libby Junior High, and Joel E. Ferris High School, graduating in 1973. Known for her leadership and quick wit, she was class Treasurer and Vice President - positions that foretold her lifelong ability to inspire, organize, and occasionally boss people around with charm.

After high school, Stanna studied nursing at the University of Washington and completed her RN from Spokane Community College in 1976. Over her 30-plus-year career at Saint Luke’s Hospital, she wore more hats than most people own: Staff Nurse, Charge Nurse, Poison Control Nurse, and House Supervisor. She specialized in physical rehabilitation, brain and spinal cord injury as well as cardiac rehab, eventually earning her CRRN (Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse) certification - an achievement that made her and her family immensely proud.

Her commitment to people extended beyond her friends, family and patient care. Stanna served on the hospital ethics committee, helped develop the POLST form (yes, the bright green one that should be on your fridge), and advocated for her colleagues as part of the Washington State Nurses Association (part of the United American Nurses union). She was featured in a national interview for her union work, where her mix of determination and dry humor shone through. A true advocate, she was never afraid to speak truth to power – especially when it came to protecting patients and the nurses who cared for them.

Stanna met her future husband, Marc LaPrath, at Saint Luke’s, where he worked in the x-ray department. Their coworkers doubted the pairing - she, the poised and successful head nurse of the new and avant garde rehab unit; he, the goofball from x-ray that was just starting his career and transporting patients - but together they built a loving, 44-year marriage centered around their daughter, Meaghan, the light of both their lives.

Outside of nursing, Stanna’s personality was just as colorful. She was a whirlwind of generosity, creativity, and organization. She never did anything halfway: hundreds of jars of jam each summer, perfectly packed lake cabin trips mapped out on yellow legal pads, and Christmas gifts for everyone from neighbors to mail carriers (and their pets). Her basement ‘gift room’ was never empty thanks to her relentless pursuit to garage sale and thrift shop all year-round.

Another thing she loved as much as Christmas was Girl Scouting. In adulthood, she served as a troop leader and active member of the Inland Empire Girl Scout Council where her dedication earned her the Outstanding Leader Award (1992) and the Green Angel Pin (1996). But the honor she treasured most was seeing the lasting impact she had on her troop members - many of whom still recall her guidance, encouragement, and the joy and confidence she helped them discover.

In her retirement years, you would have found Stanna, a hermit in the woods, at her family’s North Idaho lake cabin, feeding wild animals, reading several paperback novels a day, baking (but not cooking!), and enjoying the occasional whiskey. Fiercely independent and hilariously blunt, she never hesitated to speak her mind - especially if it meant defending the underdog.

Though health challenges began early, she always approached them with grit, humor, and a refusal to be pitied. Even as her body declined, her indomitable personality, wit, curiosity, and extreme fondness for cats never waned.

While Stanna led an amazing life, realizing almost all her goals and desires, she left this world with the unfulfilled wish: to see justice served to those in power who have eroded our great democracy.

She was preceded in death by her beloved grandmother, Jeannette Mattson (Stewart), who taught her that ‘girls could do anything boys could - and better,’ and by her dear friend and partner-in-adventure, Jeanette Irwin (Walker). She is survived by her parents, Lee and Myloa; husband, Marc; daughter, Meaghan; brother, Scott; and sister, Tamara.

And finally - one life lesson from Stanna LaPrath: it’s never too late to surprise yourself. After a lifetime of hating avocados, she suddenly decided they were wonderful. Go figure.

A celebration of Stanna’s life will be held on November 14th, 2025, at 2:00 PM at Ball and Dodd Funeral Home in Spokane. No liquor will be served, so please toast her later with a shot of cheap whiskey - or sparkling cider, if that’s more your style. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any organization supporting animals in need, which would make her smile.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Better Together Animal Alliance at [https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Friends-Of-The-Shelter-9?embed=button" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Friends-Of-The-Shelter-9?embed=button](https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Friends-Of-The-Shelter-9?embed=button) or to the Spokane Humane Society at [https://spokanehumanesociety.org/memorial-donations/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://spokanehumanesociety.org/memorial-donations/](https://spokanehumanesociety.org/memorial-donations/).