Beverly Chaney Anderson passed away peacefully Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Wash. She was 90 years old. She had fallen while traveling home from visiting family.
She was born Jan. 23, 1931, in Sparks, Nev., to Ike and Nina Lincoln Chaney and then six months later they moved back to Chaney Hill near Viola. She spent her childhood with her three siblings, Bill, Jeanette and Royleen where their lives were filled with Chaney cousins and many country adventures. Her favorite memory of farm life was rising early to help her daddy and brother go bring in the cows for milking. Beverly attended school in Viola and then high school in Palouse. There she met Virgil Anderson and eventually they married Feb. 8, 1948. They lived and worked for various farmers in Ritzville, Uniontown and the Potlatch area until settling on their own family farm on Matson Road near Viola.
Mom loved being a farm wife. She juggled raising her five kids with parts runs for Dad, moving machinery, and her midday meals for the harvest crew. She spent every morning cooking then loading up her Ranchero, then driving the meal out to the fields. Her famous sweet tea was not to be missed.
Mom loved her yard and her gardens. She loved mowing the yard. She tended rows of berries, a huge vegetable garden and canned for her large family. Mom was a wonderful baker, the aroma of baked bread and cinnamon rolls filled our home. Everything she made, we knew was made with love. Her one weekly excursion during those years was bowling in Moscow. She belonged to the Potlatch Leisure League and made many lifelong friends. She joined Dad in his many Lions Club events, spending Potlatch Days in the kitchen cooking breakfast, stuffing Santa sacks and working the annual Easter Egg Hunt.
She is survived by her children, Lester (Janet) Anderson, of Potlatch; Sally McPherson, of Potlatch; Bill (Judy) Anderson, of Viola; Christina (Ken) Darby, of Colton; and Cathy (Darrell) Gottschalk, of Deary. She was blessed with many grandchildren, “her babies,” of which there are 10 grands, 26 great-grands and two great-great-granddaughters. She is also survived by her two sisters, Jo (Jeanette) Walser and Royleen Crossler, both residing at Good Samaritan in Moscow. She lost her husband, Virgil, in 1985 and continued to live on the farm for several more years before moving into Potlatch. She was also preceded in death by her parents; her son-in law Ray McPherson; and her big brother, Bill Chaney.
As Mom’s health deteriorated, she lost the ability to cook and to bake, and lastly how to make her treasured pot of coffee. She had to give up her ironing as well. She proudly remained in her home thanks to our sister Sally providing live-in care for her during the past four years. If she was bored, you could find her in her shop sweeping or picking weeds from her yard. She would say, “Thanks for the fun day” anytime you stopped by to help her out. Mom has been ready for this last journey for some time.
We will celebrate her life with a service that will be scheduled at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Spokane at 911 W. Fifth Ave., Spokane, WA 99204, or the Alzheimer’s Association at 265 W. Riverstone Drive, Suite 205, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Short’s Funeral Chapel of Moscow and condolences may be left at shortsfuneralchapel.com.
