euskalkultura.eus

05/08/2023 - Mountain Home, Idaho, USA

Anjela “Anjie” Arrieta, beloved daughter, wife, mother, and friend, passed away at home on Monday, May 8, 2023, at the age of 66. She was surrounded by her family and friends at the end of her life, just as she was throughout it.

Anjie was born and raised in Grand View, Idaho in 1957. She was a first generation Basque-American, born to Basque immigrants John and Matilde Lasuen of Aulesti, Bizkaia. She graduated from Rimrock High School in 1975 where she played volleyball, sang in the school choir, and had the distinction of being crowned prom queen.

Following high school, Anjie attended Boise State University, where she graduated from nursing school in 1981. While attending nursing school and living in Boise, Anjie met her best friend and the love of her life, Javier Arrieta. Javier and Anjie married in Boise in 1980, and following Anjie’s graduation in 1981, they moved to Emmett, Idaho to start a family.

In Emmett, Anjie began her career as a nurse at Walter Knox Memorial Hospital, while Javier worked at the Boise Cascade lumber mill. Anjie was deeply respected by her colleagues, who consistently spoke to her ability to keep her patients calm under the most intense of circumstances. In 1982, Anjie gave birth to her daughter Nekane, and in 1985, her second daughter, Amaia, was born. In 2005, Anjie and Javier moved from Emmett to Mountain Home, Idaho, in order to be closer to Anjie’s parents. They resided in Mountain Home until April of 2023, when they moved to Boise in order to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

Anjie’s smile was infectious. Those who knew her well recount stories of her zeal for life, legendary sense of humor, toughness, and her ability to see the good in everything and everyone. Anjie was no stranger to adversity. She suffered a brain aneurysm connected to childbirth in 1985, after which she was in a coma for three weeks. She overcame that obstacle, only to be diagnosed with lymphoma in early 2004. During a grueling battle with cancer over the course of two years, doctors gave her minimal chances of survival on numerous occasions, most even declining to take her case. Overcoming all odds, Anjie won her battle with lymphoma after a successful bone marrow transplant in 2005, when she went into remission and lived the remainder of her life cancer-free.

Anjie uttered a statement just days before her passing that perhaps best illustrates the person she was. When asked whether she harbored any resentment over her years spent battling medical conditions and their lingering effects, Anjie simply stated: “Oh, no! I have a wonderful life!”

Anjie is survived by her husband, Javier; her parents, John and Matilde; daughters Nekane and Amaia and their husbands Tyler and Ben; her grandchildren Aven, George, Vinnie, and Esti; her brother Louie and his wife Shelly; and their children Loren, Lance and Shaleah.

The family requests that any memorial contributions be made to the Brain Research Foundation, 111 West Washington Street, Suite 1460 Chicago, Illinois 60602. https://www.thebrf.org/

A viewing will be held Thursday, May 18, 2023, at 5:30 P.M, immediately preceding a rosary service beginning at 6:00 P.M. at St. John’s Cathedral in Boise. A funeral mass will be held Friday, May 19, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. also at St. John’s Cathedral. Arrangements are under the care of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.

(published on May 11th, 2023 at Mountain Home News)

Goian Bego (GB) - May she Rest in Peace