Phyllis Rice

Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great grandmother and sister, Phyllis H. (Brashear) Rice, 92, of Silverton, Idaho, passed away September 30, 2015 at the Shoshone Medical Center of Kellogg, Idaho. She was born February 28, 1923 in Spokane, Washington; Phyllis was the daughter of William P. and Margaret K. (White) Brashear.

Phyllis grew up in Clark Fork, Idaho. She attended and graduated from the Clark Fork High School in 1941. Phyllis moved to the Silver Valley in 1941. She married Robert “Bob” Albert Rice on June 8, 1941 in Wallace, Idaho; Phyllis and Bob had been married for 70 years, before Bob’s passing in January of 2012.

Phyllis was a beloved wife and mother. She also served as a bookkeeper for the family businesses. In 1947, Bob and Phyllis purchased a motel they called Rice’s Motel (later renamed the Emerald Empire Motel); they owned and operated this motel for 20 years. In 1984, Bob and Phyllis began acquiring real estate on the East Fork of Pine Creek with the total purchase of 167 acres, where they restored an old homestead house on the property. Phyllis had also worked the 1975 Census for the Census Bureau.

Phyllis was a member of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church of Wallace, a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and a member of the Wallace Lady Elks. When her sons were growing up, she was a member of the PTA and had served as Den Mother for the Cub Scouts.

Phyllis so loved and enjoyed her family, gardening, reading, collecting gems and coins and she enjoyed art.

Phyllis is survived by three sons Robert Richard “Rick” Rice of Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, Terry Lee (Teri) Rice of Kingman, Arizona and Ronald Eugene (Dori) Rice of Cataldo, Idaho; six grandchildren, eighteen great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren; one sister Wilma McCord of Kennewick, Washington; she is also survived by several nieces and nephews. Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents, one brother Joe Brashear, one son Charles Michael Rice, one granddaughter Theresa Ann Isobe and her husband Robert “Bob” Rice.

A Celebration of Phyllis’s Life will be held on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 11:00 A.M. at the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church of Wallace with Pastor Art Fleming officiating. A reception/luncheon and a gathering of family and friends will be held at the Wallace Elks following services.

The family suggests that memorials may be made to the Shoshone Cancer Resource Center, 204 Oregon Street, Suite J, Kellogg, Idaho 83837.

SHOSHONE FUNERAL SERVICES & CREMATORY KELLOGG, IDAHO is entrusted with funeral arrangements.

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