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We are heartbroken to announce that Henrietta Agnes Andress
has passed away on December 15, 2019. Henrietta made an impact on the people
she knew and we are all grieving today.
Henrietta was born in 1924 in the town of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The great depression was only 5 years away. After
high school her parents found a way to send her to nursing school and she
received her nursing diploma from Wilkes-Barre General Hospital at the end of WWII
.
She began her nursing career in New York City
and then fate
stepped in and she met the love of her life, Ben Andress. That is when her new adventure began. She
continued nursing in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Idaho and had two daughters,
Joellen and Beverly, born during these years.
The early 1970s found Henrietta in Boise where she helped to develop the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Luke’s Hospital
with a great
team of nurses. She was very proud of her service to St. Luke’s and the care
provided in the NICU and gave selflessly to anything she pursued. Henrietta was
the consummate nurse, a nurse’s nurse, renewing her license long after
retirement and would always want to converse and problem solve about a medical
problem with another nurse. She valued her continued friendships from those
years. Henrietta was Mom, not just to
her daughters and grandchildren, but to the newborn children in need.
Mom could sew up anything that was needed. We can still picture her seated at her Singer
sewing machine making dresses, costumes, dolls and mending what could be used
again.
After retirement, she and Ben moved to Challis, Idaho and had
a home on the Salmon River. While living in Challis, Idaho, she was proud to
serve as Worthy Matron of the Eastern Star Florence Chapter 79. She and Ben cherished their time in Challis taking
daily hikes in the remote areas and enjoying the wildlife. She was also very
active in the Eastern Star Electa Chapter 22 in Emmett, Idaho, and the
Daughters of the Nile. She loved getting
together with Daughters of the Nile’s Tirzah Club to make blankets and toys for
the children at the Shriner’s Children Hospital in Salt Lake City.
Henrietta enjoyed
family and friends immensely. She wrote long personal letters in honor of
birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. She was proud of her Scottish heritage and was drawn to and proudly wore tartan.
Henrietta is survived by her loving family. We will miss you
so much, Mom.
In lieu of flowers, please consider honoring her memory by
donating to the Shriner’s Children Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A service will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at 1pm at
the First Presbyterian Church, Emmett, ID.