Anita Marie Cook Wartchow

Anita Marie (Cook) Wartchow passed away on December 8, 2021 at Davis Hospital in Layton, Utah.

Ann was born on November 1, 1933 (recording discrepancies imply November 4^th or 5^th) to George & Martha Cannon in Alamosa, Colorado.  She was the 3^rd oldest of 6 children.

Her brother Clyde had health issues forcing the family to move to Glendale Arizona in 1940.  Ann had memories of walking to school and passing abandoned pomegranate fields that had gone to seed.  Their owners were of Japanese ancestry and had been imprisoned.

While in Arizona Ann received some Navajo turquoise.  For the rest of her life she was passionate about collecting turquoise jewelry. In 1942, her family’s house burned down necessitating a move to Smithfield Utah to live near/with her Uncle George & Aunt Alice Ford.

In 1943, her family moved to Pocatello Idaho.  In 1949, she met and married Bob Cook.  Even though she was only 16, it was quite common for young women to get married early as a lot of young men had become casualties while fighting during World War II (Bob served in the post war occupation of Japan).  As such, neither she nor either of her sisters completed high school as finding an “available” young man and starting married life was more important.

Over the next 9 years, she and Bob had 4 children: Jerry?1950, Jene?1951, Steve?1954, and Joleene?1958

From 1952 to 1954, she lived in Clearfield Utah where Bob worked at Hill AFB as a civilian mechanic on jet aircraft being used in the Korean War.

During her life in Pocatello, Ann worked as concessions manager at Sunset Drive?in Theatre, manager of the Tough Guy bowling alley restaurant, and as a waitress at the Green Triangle.  When she was younger, Ann gained some notoriety because of her beautiful blue?black hair.  She participated in several parades in a float with other hair models.

Living not too far from Yellowstone and Teton National Parks, it was easy for her family to drive there for the day and enjoy the geysers, mud pots, elk, bison, and, especially, bears foraging for food among the tourists.  Ann once found herself dealing with a bear cub putting its paw through the car’s front wing window when its mother showed up.  Ann also enjoyed camping with her family at Mackay, Island Park, and Coffee Pot Rapids.  The camping was always a fun family outing with a small trailer towed behind a pickup and a Volkswagen full of kids.  Ann liked to take her children (Bob stayed home to work) on the mail train to Riverside California every summer to spend several weeks with her family (parents/siblings).  Thanksgiving and an occasional Christmas trip to Riverside was always an “adventure”.  Disneyland was a fun touristy option when in Southern California as were the Zion and Bryce National Parks during the trip.

One of the activities Ann really enjoyed was team bowling with Bob.  Later, after moving to Spokane, she embraced the hobby of creating porcelain dolls with her daughter Joleene.

In 1973, she and Bob Cook were divorced.  A year later she married Bud Wartchow.

Following her divorce, she moved to Powell Wyoming where she worked in a grocery store deli section.  She then moved to Trout Creek Montana, where she and Bud started the Trout Creek Restaurant.  Over the next years she continued to work in the deli section or as a meat wrapper at grocery stores in Morro Bay California, Smiths in Pocatello, and Cook Grocery in Gooding Idaho.  Her travels eventually brought her to Coeur d’Alene Idaho and Spokane Washington where she worked at Rosauers Supermarkets.  After leaving Rosauers, she and Bud worked as apartment managers in the Spokane area.

When finally retired, Ann and Bud moved to the Cascade Mobile Home Community for seniors where she enjoyed its social life including community activities and regular potlucks.  She was well known for her deviled egg offerings to the potlucks and was reminded regularly (as if she’d forget) to bring her eggs.  During her fight with cancer that kept her home, neighbors checked on her because of the “missing” deviled eggs and brought desserts to help her get better.  Her exercise consisted of walking around the park with her little dog relishing in the opportunity to visit with her neighbors.  She really enjoyed the company of her little dogs.  Each one would become an integral part of her family.  A couple of her dogs (a Pomeranian and a Maltese poodle) were both named Muffin (consecutively not concurrently).  Her last dog is a Yorkie named Lucy.  Lucy is a breeder dog (having lived a life devoid of love and meaningful human interaction) that needed rescued when, at considerable cost, this little ball of love was given to Ann.  Her life became “defined” by how happy she could make Lucy.

During all the time she lived in Coeur d’Alene/Spokane, her daughter Joleene lived nearby in Spokane Valley.  Joleene was always available to help her Mother and took care of most of her financial and health needs.  Upon Bud’s death in 2014, Joleene needed to be even more supportive of her Mother’s needs which put more stress on her personal life.  About a year later, Ann’s other daughter Jene moved in with Ann to help her Mother and give Joleene a little respite to take care of her other responsibilities including regular visits to see her grandchildren in Alaska & Seattle.

Joleene died in 2018.  This left a massive void in Ann’s support system which shortly thereafter would become untenable.  Within a year of Joleene’s death, Jene was diagnosed with liver cancer limiting how much she could help her Mother.  Within months of Jene’s diagnosis, Ann was diagnosed with liver cancer and heart valve issues.  Only a few months after her cancer “removal”, Jene was then diagnosed with inoperable cancer.  Fortunately, Ann’s liver surface cancer was slow moving and treatable.

By early 2021, Ann and her daughter Jene became unable to take care of themselves much less each other.  While taking turns falling down and the occasional ambulance call, it became apparent that they needed more help than they could manage on their own.  By Mothers’ Day, it became necessary to relocate Jene to her daughter Kassie’s home in Tennessee and move Ann to her son Steve’s house in Farmington Utah.  Jene died 6 weeks later on Fathers’ Day surrounded by her daughter Kassie and several generations of her family.  Ann died 7 months after her move while living with her son Steve.

Lucy still lives in the loving home she shared with Ann.  She can regularly be found sitting on her bed or standing at the front door wistfully waiting for Ann (the human who brought so much joy into her life) to return.

Ann was preceded in death by her husband Bud Wartchow and both of her daughters Joleene Ries and Jene Miers.  Also preceding her in death were four of her five siblings: Bill Cannon, Kitty Battles, Clyde Cannon, and Paul Cannon.

She is survived by her remaining sibling Georgia Beard; her two sons Jerry (& Kathy) Cook of Cedarville, California and Steve (& Jeanne) Cook of Farmington, Utah; and other children Kristie (& Joe Bradley) of Boise, Idaho and Cary (& Stephanie) Wartchow of Meridian, Idaho.  And Lucy.

No services will be held at this time.  Ann’s urn will be interned with her husband’s the summer of 2022 in a vault at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake.  Family members and friends will be notified prior to this event once a date has been confirmed.