Alice E. Teker

Alice E. Teker of Montesano, Washington, passed away on December 25, 2012. She was born on April 22, 1914 at Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, to George and Laura (Peterson) Stephan. She was preceded in death by her husband of 75 years, Lester and by her ten siblings. Alice is survived by her 3 children, Ron Teker, Larry Teker, Carol Rieth, and by numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. Alice was adopted by her mother’s sister, Mildred Nixon, and her husband John, when Alice was eight years old and her mother became gravely ill. She grew up on their homestead west of Leith, North Dakota. After graduating from high school, she attended Dickinson State Teachers College and obtained a teaching certificate. She taught grades one thru eight in a one room country school south of Leith. Alice married Lester Teker on May 16, 1937, at the home of John & Mildred Nixon in Leith, North Dakota, afterwards the couple travelled west to Seattle, Washington pursuing employment during the depression era. The family stayed in the Washington area until after WWII. Their sons Ron and Larry were born here, as well as their daughter Carol Rieth. The family then moved back to Leith where they established a machine shop, Western Machine Works. Alice went back to Dickinson State Teachers College and obtained her degree and returned to teaching at Leith Grade School where she taught the first four grades. After Lester was hurt in a shop accident and could no longer manage the business they returned to the Seattle area where Lester obtained a position with Sunny Jim Peanut Butter. Alice went to work with the US Postal Service and eventually retired from the Post Office in West Seattle. Lester also retired and they moved to Montesano to be close to their daughter Carol and family. They made many friends here and they also travelled a great deal. They bought a travel trailer and would tow it to Arizona or California for the winter and would invite a lot of friends and relatives to visit and stay. Upon returning to Montesano in the spring, they would pull their trailer up to Sekiu and go salmon fishing for the summer. Together, they loved to travel and return to North Dakota for the school reunions. They also travelled to Hawaii, Guam, Japan, and Hong Kong and they spent two winters in Guam. Memorial services will be held Saturday, January 5th, 1:00 pm, at the Lakeview Chapel, 4606 108th St. SW, Lakewood, WA 98499. The family requests that donations be made to the Union Gospel Mission in Aberdeen, WA 98520. Alice and Lester will be buried in the family plot at the Leith Cemetery in the summer of 2013. Eulogy by Ron Teker: Alice E. Teker, of Montesano, Washington, completed her life on December 25, 2012. She was born on April 22, 1914 at Devil’s Lake, ND to George Stephan, Sr. and Laura (Peterson) Stephan. Alice was a survivor of the dreaded 1918 flu pandemic, and consequently enjoyed a lifelong immunity to any flu virus. In 1920, the Stephan family moved to Bemidji, MN in a wagon drawn by two horses, “Lady” and “King”. In 1923, when she was nine years old, Alice went to live with her childless uncle and aunt, John and Mildred (Peterson) Nixon, and went to live on their homestead near Leith, ND. She recalled that she cried every night for a year after being separated from her family. When the state official came to visit the family about her adoption, she was the only one home. The lady wanted to know whether the family attended church, and Alice told her that they always went fishing on Sundays instead of to church. In February, 1930, the residents of Elgin came up with $100 to send the family back to Minnesota to visit Alice’s dying mother. Mildred Nixon drove them back to Minnesota in a Whippet automobile. Alice’s mother Laura died on Feb 27, 1931. Alice was 17 at the time. Her aunt and uncle legally adopted her so that she could attend high school, as otherwise tuition of $45/year would have been owed, and no one had that kind of money! Alice graduated from high school in Elgin, North Dakota in 1932, when she was 17, and too young for college. At 18, she was accepted to Dickinson State Teachers College, in North Dakota, where she received her teaching certificate. She taught in a country school south of Leith and loved teaching. The ND prairie winters were so brutal that she would ride horse back, arrive early, and build a coal fire in the one-room school. At one point, she had all 8 grades to teach and at least one child in each grade. She always thought it helped the younger ones learn as they would listen to the older students’ lessons. Alice met her future husband in her church confirmation class. Lester and Alice were married on May 16, 1937, at the home of John & Mildred Nixon in Leith, North Dakota. The wedding celebration included a meatloaf dinner, and every anniversary thereafter, Alice and Lester dined on meatloaf! After the wedding, Lester worked for one week at Soren Hauge’s oil storage farm, earned $10, and then he & Alice, plus Cap Moen and Orville Wahl, left for the west coast in Orville’s model “A” Ford. They took highway 12, which at that time was gravel all the way thru Montana. At night, they slept by the side of the road on the ground, as they did not have any money to stay in a motel. They took turns driving, and when they got to Spokane, they celebrated with chicken chow mein, the first Chinese food any of them had ever eaten! They arrived in Seattle on 31 May 1937, and rented an upstairs light housekeeping room. At night, Cap & Orville would sneak in and sleep on the floor. They all went looking for jobs ~ but there were few available because of the great depression. Lester finally hired on at Seattle Cedar in Ballard, but the establishment burned down a month later. Alice found a job as a waitress near where they lived. It was the midnight shift, and she was paid 50 cents per hour. One night, a drunk came in and threw up on the counter. Alice got her coat and walked out ~ never to return. One day they walked all the way from their apartment to the Boeing plant by the First Avenue South bridge. They stopped at every store/plant along the way trying to get a job. Hooverville was located along the way and there were no jobs available. When they got to Boeing, the company would not even take an application. The landlady then told them that she had heard that Sunny Jim Peanut Butter was hiring. Lester got a job repairing & installing canning equipment. Later, Alice was able to work there part-time canning jam. Sometimes Alice & Lester would walk to the Farmer’s Market to save the 10-cent ride on the street car, then return home on the street car. Neighbors Carl & Myrtle Ahlgreen, who had a small nearby grocery store, became good friends and when Ron was born, they were named Godparents. Myrtle assisted the doctor with Ron’s delivery, which took place at home. After the birth, the doctor had to sit on Alice’s stomach in order for the placenta to come out. In 1939, the family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where Lester helped to set up a new peanut butter factory. In 1940, they headed back to Seattle via Washington DC. Their second son, Larry, was born at Providence Hospital on 15 Dec 1940. The family left Seattle in 1941 and drove to Leith where Alice and the two sons stayed with the Nixons while Lester went to Chicago to work as a machinist. When WWII started, Lester applied to the Bremerton Navy Shipyard. They put the tires back on the car (they were stored in the house so they would not get stolen) and headed for the west coast. They finally reached Seattle, two days too late for Lester to go to work! They paid a visit to Alice’s father and brothers, all of whom lived in Bellingham, and were told that Skagit Steel & Iron Works in Sedro Woolley was hiring. Lester stopped there and was hired on the spot as a machinist. They rented a small house in Sedro Woolley with an outdoor toilet, which was common at that time. It was here that Alice got into a verbal fight with a neighbor woman who was using their outhouse because she did not want to buy her own toilet paper! Later they rented a house with an indoor toilet. Lester and Alice’s daughter Carol was born in Sedro Woolley on January 5, 1946. When WWII ended, the family decided to move back to Leith to start a machine shop. They borrowed money to build a machine shop and they bought a small home on 40 acres on the north side of town. After getting settled in Leith, they became reacquainted with a lot of old friends, and all three of the children eventually graduated from school here. They soon bought a nicer home and were involved in a lot of social actives. Alice returned to college and received her teaching degree. In 1962, Lester was hurt in a shop accident and could not run the business any more, so they sold the business and home and returned to Seattle where Lester once again went to work at Sunny Jim peanut butter factory. Alice worked in the West Seattle Post Office. Some years later, they both retired, and they moved to Montesano, Washington, where they were close to Carol and her family. Lester and Alice enjoyed their retirement by being snowbirds hauling their travel trailer to Arizona or California for the winter and hauling the trailer up to Sekiu for fishing in the summer. Alice was preceded in death by her husband of 75 years, Lester and by her ten siblings. She is survived by her three children, Ron Teker, Larry Teker, and Carol Rieth, and by numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. Alice always told her daughter when dealing with a troublesome situation, "Carol, it's just another star in our crowns". Alice has now inherited her crown and it is very heavy with all the stars she earned on this earth. Alice and Lester will be buried in the family plot at the Leith Cemetery in the summer of 2013.