Ida Stokes

Nell Ida Albright VanDyke Stokes was born to Louis Nathan and Nell Bilby Albright on August 24, 1921 at their farm home in Wilder, Idaho. She was the second child to that union. Ida was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Paul and Bill, two sisters, Frances and Virginia, and two husbands Norman VanDyke and Harry Stokes.

She leaves behind her three sons, Lee, Don and Chuck, their three wives, Sherry, Kris, and Carol, eight grandchildren, five great grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren.

Ida grew up during stressful times. When she was eight years old our nation the world, was plunged into the Great Depression. On top of that, the area in which she lived was about to experience the "Dirty Thirties," the days of the Dust Bowl. She recounted times when the dust was so thick in their house that her father could not see her sister, who he was holding in his arms. Their cattle were skin and bones and the dust saturated their hair. Ida recalled seeing the hair picked from the back of cows leaving the hide as shiny as if it had been polished. During those days, she and her siblings cut cactus and burned off the stickers as feed to keep their livestock alive.

The Albright family moved a lot during her childhood. Before she entered high school, she had lived at numerous sites in Idaho, Kansas, Colorado, and Arkansas. She finished eighth grade, but was unable to graduate from high school. To help provide for their family, Ida, along with her siblings, worked in the fields picking hops, green beans, strawberries, and potatoes. Ida recalled that with their frequent moves and harvest responsibilities, she often started the school year long after other children had made friends. Until she was fourteen she went to school barefooted until cold weather set in. She had no overshoes but tied gunny sacks around her feet to walk through the snow. Sometimes all she and her siblings had for lunch were lard sandwiches.

June 24, 1938 Ida married Norman Sylvester VanDyke of Pagosa Springs, Colorado. After living in nearby Del Norte, Colorado for a brief time, they moved to Hinton, Oklahoma. There Norman drove a truck and Ida picked cotton. Later, they purchased a laundry which they ran until the war-time economy kept them from buying replacement parts for their machines. It was in Hinton that their first son, James Lee, was born.

In 1945 the VanDykes moved to Ogden, Utah and later settles on a farm they bought near Cocolalla, Idaho. It was while they were there that their second son, Donald Ray, was born. Because of Norman's deteriorating health, they returned to Del Norte to be near family. There, Norman died just a few days after Christmas of 1946.

Ida provided for herself and her boys by working in a restaurant in Del Norte until she was able to purchase some land in Bayfield, Colorado. She had an old mining cabin moved onto the property and began to set up housekeeping. She was proud of the fact that she tar-papered the house, built a chicken house, and built an outhouse all by herself.

It was while she was in Bayfield that she met Harry Stokes and they were married May 24, 1948. They moved to Glendo, Wyoming where, on March 17, 1949, Ida gave birth to her third son, Charles Wayne.

The following year they moved to Denver, Colorado where they purchased a small place on the east side of town. With difficulty finding work in the Denver area, Harry took his family to Chenoa, Illinois where a former employer had offered him work. They remained in Illinois about a year, and then returned to Denver.

Ida was active in the community. She was a Boy Scout Den Mother for several years and helped with Daily Vacation Bible School at Ash Grove Union Church.

Later, when the family moved to their new house in Sheridan, Ida became even more active in church. She was baptized at Grace Calvary Church in 1957. There she sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, and was especially active in preparing flannelgraph materials for the Child Evangelism Fellowship.

Ida was an artist. She enjoyed drawing and painting and produced countless craft arrangements for friends and family. Ida was also an active gardener and loved the family camp outs in the mountains. She may have been the best fisherman in the family.

Ida loved her family and she loved the Lord Jesus Christ. If she were to speak to us from Heaven right now, she would say that she is not there because she was a good wife - which she was- not because she was a good mother -which she was- not because she was a good citizen or church member, - which she was - but because Jesus Christ was gracious enough to save her.