Ireta May Hale

Chubbuck - In the early morning hours of April 6, 2011, Ireta May Misner Hale passed away at her residence in Chubbuck. She was born on August 18, 1927 in Chapin, Idaho to Charles Seymore and Rose Nelson Misner.

She was raised in the Teton basin with her ten siblings and two cousins, where they lived on a farm working hard to raise all they needed to live. What they couldn't raise the boys provided by hunting and fishing. They truly lived off the land.

At the age of 13 she moved to Pocatello to be near her older sister Gertrude. She lived at St. Anthony Community Hospital working in the kitchen, until she went to work for the railroad cleaning passenger cars.

She met the love of her life Ed Hale through her brother and married him on April 6, 1946 in a double wedding ceremony with Everett and Frankie Prescott in Elko Nevada. Ed and Ireta originally settled in Inkom, but many of their early years, what they referred to as their favorite years, were spent in West Yellowstone, Montana where Ed worked as a logger and Ireta stayed home to care for their first child Sharon, who was 5 months old at the time. Their second child Tom was born while they lived in West Yellowstone. When Sharon started school they moved back to Pocatello where their last child Alan was born.

After her youngest child was born she went to work at the Bannock Hotel, working banquets as a waitress until its closing in the late 60's. She went to work at the Holiday Inn, again as a waitress until 1978. She loved working as a waitress often saying that it was her favorite kind of work. Her kids still tell stories about going shopping for school clothes and shoes and paying for them with quarters using their moms tips from work. She eventually went to work at Kraft Foods where she worked until her retirement in 1989.

After her retirement she put all her energy (which was a lot) into gardening canning, baking, and cooking for Ed and all the rest of her family. Everyones pantry bare the fruits of her labor. She took so much joy in cooking huge meals for her kids, grandkids and all their friends. No one could cook a turkey dinner and fresh bread like "grandma Hale". All the holidays, as well as many weekends and weeknights were spent in the warmth of her kitchen, surrounded by her amazing cooking and happy family.

She also enjoyed going to Church and working in the temple with her husband Ed. Ireta and Ed were very close to all their grandkids, spending many hours on the river boating, fishing and camping. They never did anything that didn't include kids, grandkids, extended family and friends. As with their grandpa, the grandkids all know how lucky they were to have her as their grandma.

Ireta lost her husband Ed in July of 2010. These last few months were the longest they were ever apart, but she followed him on their 65th wedding anniversary which means as a married couple, they never missed an anniversary. She was also preceded in death by her parents and all of her siblings.

She is survived by her daughter Sharon (Bill) McSpadden; her son Tom (Eddie) Hale; her son Alan (Nancy) Hale. She is also survived by his grandkids Toby, Brandy, Zig, Jason, Jimmy, Nick, Hez, and Andy as well as numerous great grandkids.

Memorial Services for Ireta will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday April 9, 2011 at Manning-Wheatley Funeral Chapel 510 N. 12th Ave. The family will receive friends on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. until the time of the services. Arrangements are under the care of Manning-Wheatley Funeral Chapel.