Jody Shotwell

Joan Lorene Guyot Shotwell, longtime resident of Twin Falls and Filer, Idaho, passed away on August 2 after enduring many years of Alzheimer's dementia. 

Jody, as she was known to family and her many friends, was born on December 7, 1935, in Pocatello, Idaho, the first child of Fred and Inez Guyot.  As a young girl Jody embraced her love of dolls by creating a collection that swelled to many beautiful dozens, their ranks increased over the years by gifts and purchases of treasured dolls from all over the world.  Mom graduated from Pocatello High School in 1953.  On her first day at Idaho State College, Jody met Richard Shotwell of Twin Falls when registering for Choir, and never dated anyone else.  They were married March 25, 1956, and spent their honeymoon summer dodging lightning on a fire lookout near Salmon, Idaho.   After graduating from Montana State University in 1957, Dick dragged Jody to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.  He served as a Lieutenant in the Army for two years while Jody battled cockroaches and became a mother. 

The Shotwells returned to Twin Falls with their children Karen and Steven.  Their third child, David, was born in 1962.  Dick joined his father in the electrical contracting business, and Jody became the most fun mother ever.  She didn't let dust collecting on the mantle prevent her from taking us kids on many outdoor adventures that beckoned in rural Idaho.  When feeling too fettered by homemaking and teaching responsibilities, Mom would take herself on solo adventures in her tiny travel trailer -- even if she hauled it only as far as a quiet rest area a few miles from home.  Arriving home from one such adventure in Ketchum, Mom produced a pair of skis she had just learned to use.  We laughed at our athletically-challenged wife and mother, but soon all of us learned to cross-country ski.  Mom reveled in outdoor Idaho winter and summer and gave all of us deep roots in the state where her grandparents homesteaded.  She supported all of us as we discovered our own passions, tacitly participating in many crazy schemes with her standard cheerful shrug and ever-sanguine manner. 

Jody was a dedicated and joyful helpmeet for her husband, but never lost herself in his life.  Mom earned her degree in Education from Idaho State University and taught home economics for many years at Robert Stuart Junior High School.  In later years Mom took her "home-ec" students on day trips into the South Hills where she taught them outdoor cooking and other skills; obligatory sewing lessons became opportunities for her students to create useful stuff like down vests.  Mom loved to sew, and created everything from teenage fashion, to a pony's raincoat, to covers for any piece of equipment needing protection, to countless quilts for needy children.  

Jody was initiated into Chapter BE of the P.E.O. Sisterhood in 1969 and was actively involved for decades, using her creative talents to help with many fund-raising projects to provide educational opportunities for women.  Jody served on the board of the Idaho State Chapter of P.E.O. for seven years, was elected President in 1987, and presided at the 1988 Idaho State Chapter Convention in Moscow.  In their empty-nest years, Jody and Dick traded up for a much larger RV trailer, which followed them many delightful miles to wonderful places all over the western US. 

Mom discovered the US Forest Service's Passport-in-Time archeological projects, which allowed her and Dad to participate in historical digs, even as she began to descend into dementia.  Becoming a gramma somewhat late in life, Mom made up for those many years of devoid of babies when Lauren arrived.  Because of her disease, she sadly didn't get to know her other grandkids as well. 

Mom is survived by her cherished husband Dick, daughter Karen (Bill) Ward of Moscow Idaho, and sons  Steven (Kathy) Shotwell of Twin Falls and David (Cornelia) Shotwell of Selma, Oregon; granddaughter Lauren (Jed) Dolcini of Twin Falls and great-granddaughters Molly and Olivia Dolcini; grandchildren Jessica and Austin Shotwell lately of McCall, Idaho; grandsons Milo and Dante Flint of Moscow; brothers Tom (Gretchen) and Don (Karen) Guyot of Portland Oregon and Olympia  Washington respectively, along with their daughters; sister-in-law Evelyn Shotwell Cates of Boise and her children; cousins Nile and Gary Winn in Buhl, Idaho; and cousins in various other states.  She is also survived by her "special relative", Mary Pyke of Sisters, Oregon. 

A service celebrating Mom's full and well-lived life will be held Wednesday August 9 at 11 AM at the Filer First Baptist Church at 254 Highway 30 in Filer.  She would want donations in her honor to be made to the PEO Sisterhood projects (donations.peointernational.org), The Nature Conservancy (nature.org), the Alzheimer's Association (alz.org), or to charities benefitting children.