Louise June Devereaux

Louise June Devereaux, 86, of Meridian, died Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at a local hospital. Services are in the care of Flahiff Funeral Chapel, Caldwell. (208) 459-0833

Funeral services will be held on Friday, April 26th at 11:00 a.m. at Flahiff Funeral Chapel, 624 Cleveland Blvd. in Caldwell, with graveside services to follow at Canyon Hill Cemetery. A reception will be held at the Caldwell Elks Lodge #1448, 1015 N. Kimball Avenue in Caldwell, following the cemetery.

Louise June (Harvey) Devereaux, 86, of Boise, Idaho, passed away Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Boise, Idaho. Louise was born on June 28, 1937, in Caldwell, Idaho and was the oldest child of Kenneth and Ingalis (Hurst) Harvey; her siblings were Lois, Linda, and Leonard. Her mother always called Louise “Junie” because she was born in June and that had a very special meaning to Ingalis. 

Louise’s grandparents, in the late 1800s, homesteaded the land in Middleton, Idaho, where she grew up. Her grandparents were also instrumental in helping establish the Middleton Baptist Church. Because of the family ties to the community, she had a large extended family nearby, so a lot of her childhood playmates were her cousins: Gene Harvey, Doyle, Donna Schuster, Albert Harvey, and Arlene Payton Johnson. She spoke a lot about regular extended family gatherings, hotdog roasts, and picnics in the Willow Creek area and Nampa city parks. 

In elementary school, she made a life-long friend, Joyce (Bish) Coulter, who was with her on the last day of her life. Louise married Jerry Devereaux on April 4th, 1953. They were the love of each other’s lives and spent 70 years together. Their “couple” friends, who were also witnesses at their wedding, were Orval and Vicky Ball. They “ran around” together, played cards, and did some traveling to Yellowstone, Oregon Coast, and the Redwoods together. Louise loved recording their trips, family gatherings, and many other occasions on her “brownie” camera. Louise and Jerry also stayed in contact with another life-long friend, Richard (Dick) Black, who now lives in Arizona. 

Louise’s first job was working at Glen L. Evans Company, a fishing tackle manufacturer in Caldwell, Idaho. She worked with her mother-in-law, Dorothy. Louise excelled at tying the fishing tackle flies and one year she was given the honor of doing fly tying demonstrations at the Western Idaho State Fair. In 1969, however, her job was outsourced overseas so she decided to begin fulfilling a life-long dream of becoming a teacher. In 1976, after returning to school, she graduated from Boise State University with a degree in Education. A very proud moment for Louise as she was the first in her family to graduate from college and was anxious to begin her teaching career. After graduating, she taught the 4th grade at Washington Elementary and was honored when she moved to the newly opened Sacagawea Elementary School to continue teaching the 4th grade there. 

During the summers, she and Jerry ran the ranch. Most of Louise’s married life was working side-by-side with Jerry, farming and ranching for over 30 years in the Middleton area. She was the “chief” in the cow milking operation they had, milking a herd of approximately 30 to 40 Holstein milk cows twice daily, 7 days a week, with the help of their daughter, Elaine and son, Ray. Louise would tell you her kids were what she was the proudest of. 

Louise taught for approximately 20 years, then retired from teaching and began traveling. Following Jerry’s passion, they traveled across the country coast to coast exploring and experiencing new places. Their traveling included starting from Boise cross country to New York City then to Florida going along the east coast in their new Dually pickup with a 32-foot fifth wheel in tow. They also went through parts of the Midwest and Southwest with their travels eventually taking them to Arizona. Louise and Jerry made quite a few very special friends there and both loved the mild Arizona winters so much that in 2009 they purchased a retirement home in Arizona City, south of Phoenix and spent the winters there for several years. During that time, they worked on completely landscaping the grounds around the house and sold it in 2018. After selling the Arizona house, Louise and Jerry stayed closer to home in Idaho, except for occasional fishing trips and attending auctions around the Boise Valley, the Mountain Home, McCall/Cascade and Ontario, Oregon areas. They lived year-round in Idaho until Jerry’s death in September 2023. Louise was Jerry’s main fishing partner, and she spent many hours with him trolling Idaho lakes, cruising each lake from end to end. She would always cook up the catch of the day for supper. 

Louise is survived by her daughter, Elaine and husband, Robert Lambrou; son, Ray and wife, Stacey Devereaux; granddaughters: Jennifer (Thomas) Niederer, Kelli, and Katie Devereaux; and grandson, Jack and wife, Janielle Thomas. She also leaves behind four great-grandsons: Drake and wife, Savannah; Hayden and wife, Rylee; and Grayson and Landon Niederer; a great-granddaughter, Brianna Thomas; as well as two great-great-grandchildren, Kylie and Damon Niederer, Drake and Savannah’s children. She also has sister-in-law, Vesta Harvey; brother-in-law, Vernon Zehr; nieces: Cheryl (Page) Zmuda, Tina (Christy) Smith, and Kristina (Harvey) Smith; nephews, Rodney Zehr and Kenneth Harvey; and cousins. Louise’s family included step-grandchildren: Dana, Lauren, Lillianna, Heather, Sierra, Tianna, and Omarri. 

Louise was preceded in death by her husband, Jerry; father, Kenneth; mother, Ingalis Harvey; siblings: Lois (Harvey) Christy, Linda (Harvey) Zehr, and Leonard Harvey; mother-in-law, Dorothy (Harris); and father-in-law, Robert (Bob) Devereaux. Also, nephews, Anthony (Tony) Page and Robert (Bobby) Christy; and niece, Gail (Zehr) Anderson. 

Louise was always friendly and outgoing, often coaxing Jerry and the kids into going on outings and to gatherings. Family was her focus, especially her grandchildren and she was recently pleased to be able to see and hold her newly born great-great grandson. Her bright blue eyes would always sparkle when she had her family around her and always enjoyed the time we spent together. She was a very determined woman made of iron, it seemed at times, and always stayed the course as much as possible. You will always be in our hearts; we will miss you tremendously.