Mardella L. Carlson

Mardella L. Carlson, age 56, of Coeur d'Alene, Id., passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 28, 2006 at Kootenai Medical Center. She had been a resident of Pinewood Care Center nursing home in Coeur d'Alene for the past few years.

Mardella was born Feb. 8, 1950 in La Grande, Ore. to Dale L. and Valera L. Robinette Carlson of Summerville. During her growing-up years on the family farm, Mardella was a vital and active part of the family. She was active in local 4-H clubs which included cooking, home making and knitting clubs. She had also been a Girl Scout. Her life centered around her family, where she always felt loved and secure. Mardella was never left out of anything the family did together, whether it was working on the farm or spending a summer afternoon picking huckleberries in the nearby mountains.

Through her elementary school years, she attended Imbler Public Schools in Imbler. Her remaining education was at La Grande in a special education curriculum, where she graduated with a well-earned modified diploma from La Grande High School in 1969. She proudly marched with the entire high school graduating class.


After high school and up until 1971, Mardella lived with her grandmother, Lola Robinette, and worked as a dishwasher at the Royal Cafe in downtown La Grande. With the help of their church pastor, Dale and Valera were able to find a private group home in Boise, Id. for their daughter. This was a welcomed opportunity for Mardella to perhaps obtain some guided independence, while also providing greater resources for employment and personal development better suited to her special needs.


Mardella adjusted very well to her new surroundings in Boise and made new friends quickly. But after about three years, she fell ill and had to leave the private group home setting and was relocated to a Pendleton, Ore. hospital to receive treatment and to convalesce. Eventually, she was well enough to regain her grip on life and moved to Portland, Ore. where she again was placed in an assisted group home environment. But the continued, gradual decline of her mental and physical abilities got in her way of being able to hold down a job of any kind. It was during her tenure in Portland that her dad, Dale Carlson of Summerville, passed away in 1978. Her dad's death was very difficult for Mardella…and the slow decline of her mental and physical capacities continued.

Over the rest of her life, Mardella lived in many more group home environments including Hood River and Pendleton, Ore.; College-Place and Walla Walla, Wa.; Cottonwood, Lewiston, Post Falls, and finally to Coeur d'Alene, Id. Each successive relocation was due mostly to Mardella's increasing need for 24-hour-per day care from people professionally trained to meet her special needs. Her requirement for medical care also increased exponentially over the years.

It was while Mardella was living in Lewiston, Id. in 1996 that it was discovered quite by accident that she had a benign, but none-the-less deadly, inoperable brain tumor. By this time Mardella had suffered the loss of her mobility to walk on her own and speaking became extremely difficult for her. To the Carlson family's horror, they learned that Mardella's brain tumor was of the type that had existed in her brain while only an embryo…and was the reason for her having been born brain damaged…and was the cause for her life of slow, but sure, failing health and mental capacities.

Mardella loved her family, and always knew where she came from. Her family always kept in contact with her over the years and, while she was still able, she was always home for the holidays…especially Christmas. But, for the last decade or so of her life, even that wasn't possible anymore. She eventually became confined to either her bed or wheelchair…and the medical attention she required was extensive. Mardella also knew she was loved by her family. The staff at Pinewood Care Center said she was always talking about her family, and they made trips to visit her as often as they could.

On Saturday, October 28, 2006, Mardella's body simply couldn't bare up anymore to the advances of her affliction. She passed away peacefully, without fear or struggle. She is finally, for the first time in all her existence, free and whole. Without question, we know Mardella is in the presence of the Lord, where she is now experiencing perfect release and peace.

Mardella is survived by her mother, Valera L. Carlson of Island City; a brother, Lawrence "Larry" D. Carlson, Kuna, Id.; sisters and brothers-in-law, Karen & Robert Douglas of Ontario and Durinda & Matt Burrows of La Grande; six nieces and one nephew; four great-nieces and one great-nephew. Mardella is also survived by numerous cousins and a host of other relatives and friends.


She was preceded in death by her father, Dale L. Carlson; her paternal grandparents, Lawrence V. Carlson and Zilla E. Carlson Choate; her maternal grandparents, Otto T. Robinette and Lola J. Robinette; a step-maternal grandparent, Mary O. Hayes Robinette and a step-paternal grandparent, Dillard R. Choate.


The family wishes to thank the good people at Alpha Health Services and especially the care staff at Pinewood Care Center for their wonderful kindnesses to Mardella and for the excellent care they gave to her while she was with them. You were a God-send when Mardella needed you…and her family needed you, too.

A memorial service for Mardella is planned for Friday, November 3, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. at the La Grande Nazarene Church. Daniels Chapel of the Valley is in charge of arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests your thoughtful financial donation to Pinewood Care Center, 2514 North 7th, Coeur d'Alene, Id. 83814 in memory of Mardella Carlson.