Alta Luella (Halsey) Neiswender Obituary

Alta Luella (Halsey) Neiswender

February 1, 1922 ~ January 31, 2016 (age 93)

Alta Luella (Halsey) Neiswender went to be with her Lord and Savior Jan 31, 2016 at Saint Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington. She leaves her 3 sons, Lawrence Neiswender and wife Jane - Dallas, TX; John Neiswender and wife Robin - Gig Harbor, WA; and Michael Neiswender and wife Angie - Golden, CO; brother Milford Halsey - Salt Lake City, UT; sister Esther (Halsey) Dazell - Kennewick, WA; 10 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband Jess Neiswender; father Homer Halsey; mother Ethel (Snyder) Halsey; 2 brothers, Clifford Halsey and Richard Halsey and 3 sisters, Violet (Halsey) Montgomery, Vera (Halsey) Marshall and Myrtle Halsey.

Alta was born Feb 1, 1922 in Ritzville, Washington. She died at the age of 93, less than 24 hours from her 94th birthday. 18 days before Alta was born her father, Homer, received a land patent from the US Government for an 85 acre homestead in Shoshone County, Idaho, 63 miles NE of Coeur d’Alene. Alta, her father, mother and 3 siblings under 6 years old lived in a cabin that Homer built on the property. Her father operated a guide service for patrons who wanted to hunt and fish in the Idaho panhandle. Life was hard in that remote area. When her father’s health made it impossible for him to continue working the homestead the family moved to Careywood, Idaho in 1928 and then to Spirit Lake, Idaho in 1929. Life was still very hard for Alta in Spirit Lake. Because of her father’s declining health she had to help her mother care for the younger siblings, her mother was distant and her father passed away when she was just 14 years old. Still she made friends, graduated from high school and got a good job as a switchboard operator in the Spirit Lake telephone office. Alta moved to Spokane in 1943 and continued her work with the telephone company. During the war she was an operator at a facility in the Mojave Desert where she handled long-distance calls for GI’s. After the war and still working for the telephone company she met and married her husband, Jess Neiswender, also a telephone company employee. Alta developed a special bond with her mother-in-law, Helen (Van Vliet) Neiswender who became a second mother to her. Helen’s influence as well as Jess’s sisters, Esther (Neiswender) DeViney, Evelyn (Neiswender) Hammett and Marjorie (Neiswender) Winters did much to develop her godly character. Their love and kindness was far deeper than mere acceptance and filled a void in Alta’s life.

Alta and Jess were married for 49 years until Jess passed away in 1996. They lived all over the state of Washington, although Spokane was home most of the time, as Jess’s career took them to many cities and towns during the expansion of “Ma Bell”. Everywhere they went they got involved in a local church and made friends, many became life-long friends, and served the church as they taught their children to love Jesus and live by the principles spelled out in the Bible. Of particular note was the Davies family. “Uncle” Dick and “Aunt” Juna were faithful mentors and friends to Alta & Jess and their family throughout their lives. Juna’s brother, John MacIntosh, was the first Wycliffe missionary they met which eventually determined significant parts of their future lives. Alta was especially influential in the lives of her children and grandchildren living out her faith in numerous ways. She loved to sing worship songs around the house, there is no doubt that she spent many hours of her life praying for her family and friends, she taught her boys to be frugal and financially responsible and she demonstrated God’s love for her by loving the people in her life. In their retirement years Alta and Jess continued to serve the Lord spending time as short-term missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Bolivia, South America; Waxhaw, North Carolina and Huntington Beach, California. After Jess passed away Alta spent time in Tacoma, Washington; Grand Prairie, Texas and Orlando, Florida before moving back to Tacoma for good in January 2006.

Alta will be dearly missed by her loved ones but she is in the presence of her Lord and reunited with the many people who went on before her. Her life is an inspiration to the many lives she touched and her legacy lives on in her family and friends.

Memorial services will be held at 1:00pm on Thursday June 23, 2016 at The Inn at Gig Harbor - 3211 56th St NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98335, reception immediately following. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Wycliffe Bible Translators online at: http://www.wycliffe.org/donate/