Mary Louise Ihrig

Mary Louise Ihrig

In the early hours of April 28th, Mary Ihrig passed away peacefully at the young age of 83 at her home in Boise with her loving husband by her side.

Mary was born in Gooding, Idaho as third born child and only girl of four children to parents Hollis Colby VanDorn and Ellen VanDorn.  Mary’s family moved from Wendell to Meridian where she attended Meridian High School and eventually met and married the love of her life, Don. They were married for 65 years this past October and have two children Kim and Mike. 

Mary was very adventurous back in the day, she was a model for swimsuits and various other clothing for Horton Studio (which she never spoke of) and loved to ride motorcycles, which was a shared passion with Don. Mary was one of the first woman in Boise to ride a 900cc Harley Sportster. 

Most of the time you could find Mary in the kitchen cooking up a storm or cleaning the house, early on when her grandsons were young, she enjoyed cutting wood with her family every year. Being a grandma/nana was one of her greatest joys, she loved picking up the grandkids for the weekend and taking them to the cabin for fun filled adventures. During the course of her career, she worked as a Data Processor for Boise Cascade, Morrison-Knutsen and Albertson Corporation and retired in 2000.

Prior to retirement, there were many weekend trips spent in their truck camper enjoying fishing and the great outdoors. Don and Mary started to build and completed their log cabin in the mountains of Cascade in 1988. They were blessed to get to build next to their lifelong friends the Andersons, where they enjoyed many pinochle games, barbeques and laughs. During retirement the cabin became their primary home where they enjoyed the quiet, slow-paced atmosphere and the beauty that surrounded them.

Mary was proceeded in death by her father, Hollis Colby VanDorn; Mother Ellen VanDorn; brothers Albert VanDorn; Howard VanDorn; Kenneth “Butch” VanDorn and granddaughter Krystal Ihrig. She is survived by her husband Don Ihrig; children Kim Martin (Steve), Mike Ihrig (Tina), four grandchildren (Dawn Fay, Tana, Nick and Brandon), six great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.