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 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 through 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 traveled west to Seattle, Washington pursuing employment during the depression era.

The family stayed in the Washington area until after World War II. 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 U.S. 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 traveled 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 traveled to Hawaii, Guam, Japan, and Hong Kong and they spent two winters in Guam.

Memorial services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 5, 2013, at the Lakeview Chapel, 4606 108th St. SW, Lakewood, WA 98499. Go to www.edwardsmemorial.com to share memories of Alice and sign the online guestbook.

In lieu of flowers, 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.