Deidre Danielle Elkins

Deidre “Dee” Danielle Catherine Elkins, aged 78, passed away peacefully at her home in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Friday, January 24, 2025. She was born May 14, 1946, to Herbert and Dorothy Lentz in Tacoma, Washington. Dee grew up in Longview, Washington, although she graduated from high school in Cashmere, Washington, after her parents moved there prior to her senior year.

Dee attended ITT Peterson School of Business in Seattle where she met her first husband, William “Bill” Mathews. They were married for 38 years and had two children, Jennifer and Christopher. Dee worked for the Boy Scouts of America early in her career, and one of her proudest moments was designing artwork for the BSA that graced the sides of Seattle’s Metro buses in the mid-60s.

Dee was very artistic and her home’s walls feature paintings and drawings she made over the years. She also enjoyed quilting and sewing, was a voracious reader, and loved to travel. When she and Bill moved from the Seattle area to Olympia, Washington in the early 80s, they helped start up a local church in which she was very involved. Dee also began a long and amazing career with Washington State’s Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, working there from 1984 to 2010 as a Program Administrator.

Dee met her second husband, Lawrence “Larry” Elkins, in 2009, and they married in 2010. Dee packed up everything she owned and headed back east to live in Ohio for several years before they decided to move to Idaho to live closer to Dee’s daughter, Jenny. During her marriage with Larry, Dee went on many adventures, both back east through Ohio and surrounding states, as well as in Idaho. She often accompanied Larry on his many outings as Shadpoke the Clown, providing support as he entertained adults and children alike at various events. Dee loved the ocean. She was also very fond of her past kitty, Salem, and her current feline friend, Kingsley. In recent years she enjoyed volunteering as a Protestant Benedictine oblate at the Ascension Priory in Jerome, Idaho, interacting online, watching Westerns and Star Trek with Larry, making beautiful paper craft creations, and gardening. She was also a recent convert to Catholicism and deeply enjoyed her daily Bible studies with Larry.

Dee was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Dorothy Lentz, as well as her sister, Fern Dronen. She is survived by her husband, Larry Elkins, her daughter, Jenny Duff of Twin Falls, her son, Chris (Tracy) Mathews of Lewisville, Texas, and her grandchildren: Emily and Sophie Duff of Twin Falls, and Caleb, Rachel, Jesse, and Benjamin Mathews of Lewisville, Texas. Dee is also survived by her former spouse, Bill Mathews (Cate) of Tucson, Arizona, as well as bonus stepdaughters, Rhiannon Elkins of Hilliard, Ohio, Julie Elkins of Bozeman, Montana, and Cheyenne Elkins of Chandler, Arizona; plus, a host of bonus step grandchildren and step great-grandchildren.

Thank you to Ann Fullmer of St. Luke’s, and Heritage Home Health and Hospice for your care and support in Dee’s final days.

A visitation for family and friends will be held on Wednesday January 29, 2025 from 5-7 with a rosary at 7pm at Rosenau Funeral Home. Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday January 30, 2025 at St. Edward’s Catholic Church Twin Falls at 10am.

If you would like to donate rather than send flowers, Dee’s favorite charity was St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.