Elaine Krouse

Elaine Krouse, longtime Colfax resident, passed away Monday, December 18, 2023, at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. She was 80. A Memorial Service will be Tuesday, January 9th, at 1:00 PM at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Colfax. Pastor Michael Birnbaum will officiate. Interment will follow at the Colfax Cemetery.

Mildred Elaine Morris was born March 17, 1943 in Milan, Missouri, to Eldon and Mildred Cotter Morris. She was the fourth child of six to bless their family. Elaine moved with her family to Elberton, Washington when she was in the first grade. She finished her education in Colfax and graduated from high school there before attending the Nazarene College in Southern Idaho for a time.

Elaine married Jim Krouse in Colfax on July 8, 1967. They made their home in Colfax; raising their son Daniel and daughter Lynda in a home filled with warmth and love. Elaine kept busy as a stay-at-home mom when the kids were little and later on, she worked in a local daycare. Once the kids were older, she worked for over 15 years as a housekeeper at Whitman Hospital in Colfax. She was active in the Nazarene Church during those years and taught Sunday School for many years. She was a Camp Fire leader, volunteer coordinator for the FISH program (a local food bank program), and active in the Colfax Fire Department Auxiliary. She enjoyed fishing and hunting and taking small trips with the family to places such as Yellowstone or to the mountains. She was a certified master gardener having completed the Idaho Master Gardener program at the U of I. She always tended a large garden and in later years had a small hobby farm just on the outskirts of town where she kept several varieties of chickens and fowl. She was good with her hands and did crafts of many types. She was an excellent seamstress and did quite a bit of sewing.

Elaine was very proud of her family and when the grandkids came along, she truly enjoyed spending time with them or watching them grow. She was proud of each one. She and Jim enjoyed going for drives or canning peaches together. They thoroughly enjoyed a couple of trips they took back to Missouri to trace the roots of her family. In recent years, Elaine has been attending the Congregational Church in Colfax and enjoyed fostering many friendships in her church home there. She and Jim enjoyed spending time together and were settling into their retirement years when he passed away suddenly on August 28, 2021. Although her life changed dramatically, she wasn't one to complain and quietly kept on as best she could. She enjoyed spending time with family, looked after her brother Eugene, and continued living at home until a fall a few weeks ago landed her in the hospital.

Elaine is survived by and will be missed by; her son Daniel and his wife Sheila Krouse of Chewelah, Wash., daughter Lynda and her husband Rich Kramlich, Colfax, her foster-daughter, Kim Storm of Spokane, Wash .; by her eight grandchildren, Amanda (Dustin) Link, Ashley (Keith) Luft, Bryce (Jocelyn) Kramlich, Kaitlin, Conner and Kaden Krouse, Tyler (Teara) and Coy (Madi) Stout; 9 great-grandchildren, Braxten, Kinslee, Teagan, Grady, Hadlee, Laynee, Grayson, Kohen and Kenedi; and by her brothers Norman (Mary) Davis in Kalispell, Montana, and Roy (Thelma) Morris, Colfax, and sister Ilene Suksdorf of Spokane as well as numerous extended family and friends.

The family suggests memorial gifts in her memory be to the Congregational Church in Colfax. On-line guest book is at http://www.corbeillfuneralhomes.com

Corbeill Funeral Home in Colfax is caring for the family.