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12/09/2020 - Mountain Home, ID, USA

Mary Lou Muniategui Shehan passed away peacefully, on December 3, 2020, with her son Rick and his wife Pam by her side.

She was born on December 23, 1926 to Blas and Carmen (Oñederra) Muniategui in Gautegiz Arteaga, Bizkaia, Spain.

She lived there until the war forced her and her mother and sister to leave and come to Idaho to join her father. They had to leave in the dark of night and sail to Portugal, then flew on to Ellis Island and America.

They arrived in Mountain Home, on July 4, 1939, after a long train ride from New York City.

Mary often said that her first reaction was wondering how she was going to live in this desert after living on the coast in The Basque Country.

Times were very hard for the family. Work was scarce and the house they moved into had no running water.

Not totally understanding the war situation, Mary said she asked many times to be sent back to Spain to her grandpa. Her dad told her that if she stayed for 1 year and still wanted to return he would help her to go back. She often said that he must have told her that just so she would quit asking.

Mary attended school in Mountain Home. She worked alongside her mother and sister at the boarding house her mother opened to feed and house the many Basque workers in the area.

During the fall of 1946 Mary attended a USO dance and met a young soldier by the name of Tina Eugene Beck. They dated for a year and were married on November 3, 1947.

They had two sons, Michael John Beck, born in 1949 and Richard Eugene Beck, born in 1953. The couple owned and operated the Rendezvous Club in Mountain Home for many years. Sadly, the couple later divorced.

She married Fred Shehan in 1967 and he proceded her in death.

Mary worked at the Mountain Home Nursing Care Center for many years and retired to spend her time gardening and taking care of her beautiful yard. It was always a competition between her and her sister, Esther, to see who would get the first ripe tomato of the year. They baked the best pies, with Mary making the crust and Esther making the filling. The sisters lived a block from each other for almost sixty years and were always the best of friends.

She always said her two sons were her babies and always would be. They were truly the loves of her life and she would just light up when they came home to visit. Cooking their favorites was always a priority for her, along with making sure there were pies to be packed and sent home with them when they left.

She is survived by her sister, Esther Totorica of Boise, ID, her son, Richard Beck and his wife Pamela of Green Valley, AZ, her daughter in law, Betty Beck of Pocatello, ID, her grandson, Larry Beck of Portales, NM, her granddaughter, Kresta Beck of Nampa, ID, her great grandchildren, Gabby Wadsworth and Ally Beck of Bailey, CO, Courtney Holtzen of Twin Falls, ID and Braden Beck of Portales, NM and their families. Her nieces and nephews, Carmen and Charlie Griggs, Josephine and Larry Rebich, Robert and Sarah Totorica and Tom and Heather Totoricaguena of Boise, ID and their families.

She was proceeded in death by her parents, her husband, Fred and her Son, Michael J. Beck.

A Rosary will be held at 6:00PM, on Thursday, December 17, 2020 at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, in Mtn Home. Funeral mass will be held at 11:00AM, at Our Lady of Good Council Catholic Church on Friday, December 18, 2020, and burial to follow at Mountain View Cemetery in Mtn Home.

(published on Mountain Home News on December 9, 2020)