Lois Elaine Boyd Samuelson passed away on Nov. 25, 2015. She was born Jan. 7, 1928, to Louis Melvin Boyd and Fawney May Myers Boyd of Larned, Kan., who were of Scots-Irish decent and proud Kansas wheat and cattle farmers.
Lois attended elementary and high school in Larned, graduating after her junior year of high school, thereafter attending Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill., and Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., graduating in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree in music. In 1974 she earned a master’s in education degree from the University of Idaho.
From 1948-49, Lois was an elementary teacher in the Adams, Kan., Public School District and 1959-64 was a kindergarten teacher in the Boulder, Colo., School District. In 1971, Lois was the head teacher of the University of Idaho kindergarten and in 1972 was the director of kindergarten aide training and summer kindergarten program in Lewiston. For the Moscow school district, she was a primary resource room teacher, 1973-78, and a consulting teacher, 1978-84.
Lois was an active member of Phi Delta Kappa, Alpha Delta Kappa, having served as president 1978-80; the NEA; IEA; MEA; the Council for Exceptional Children; and the International Reading Council.
Lois was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church, serving in many capacities including as a trustee. She was a past president of the University of Idaho Faculty Women’s Club, active in the UI Retirees’ Association and an active member and past president of Chapter BH in P.E.O. She belonged to the Moscow Fine Arts Club, Washington-Idaho Symphony League, the Seattle Opera Association and Sigma Alpha Iota music sorority. She was also active in Mary McCarty’s (Phi Gamma Delta auxiliary), Moscow Dance Club and Bridge Club.
Lois met her husband, Everett Vernon Samuelson, the son of a Methodist minister, during her years at Southwestern College. Everett had just returned from combat service during WWII in Europe to resume the college program he left in order to enlist following Pearl Harbor. Lois and Everett were married on Christmas Day in 1948. During the years of their marriage they lived in Axtell, Kan., Topeka, Kan., Arlington, Va., and Boulder, before moving to Moscow in 1963, where Everett served as dean of the College of Education until 1983.
Lois is survived by her daughter, Christine Samuelson Slusarenko, of Portland, Ore.; grandchildren Ann and Alan; great-grandchildren Max and Cole Slusarenko; her son, Steven Samuelson, of Anaheim, Calif., and his wife, Kelly Bigger Samuelson, and their children, Emma and William Samuelson. In addition, Lois is survived by her sister, Alice Boyd Robbins, of Cincinnati, and a number of nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband, Everett Vernon Samuelson; her parents, Louis and Fawney Boyd, of Larned; and her brother, Edward Bruce Boyd, also of Larned.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Memorial Fund of the Moscow First United Methodist Church or to the Samuelson Scholarship Fund at the University of Idaho. A memorial service is scheduled for the afternoon of March 5, 2016, at the Moscow First United Methodist Church.
1928 - 2015 (87 years)
Siblings
. Steven SAMUELSON
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