Zella Kniefel, 84

Zella Margaret Kniefel, 84, of Prineville, Ore., formerly of Mountain Home, died Sunday, March 9, 2003, at a Care Center in Oregon.

Vigil services will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at Summers Funeral Homes, McMurtry Chapel, in Mountain Home. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 13 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Mountain Home. Burial will follow at Mountain View Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Summers Funeral Homes.

Zella was born in Boise on Sept. 11, 1918, the daughter of James M. and Inez (McWilliams) Redding.

She was raised in Barber, Idaho, and moved to Mountain Home in 1932. She graduated from Mountain Home High School in 1936 and went to work for the telephone company as the Chief Telephone Operator in Mountain Home during WWII.

Zella then worked for the Mountain Home Irrigation District from 1950 until 1979, when she retired.

Zella was for many years a 4-H Leader, Girl Scout Leader, and active member of the Senior Citizens Center, a volunteer with the Election Board and member of the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center.

She was a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, and the Mother Cabrinni Sodality.

Zella enjoyed sewing, crocheting, and quilting. She especially enjoyed her grandchildren.

Zella is survived by: her daughters, Carolyn Kessel and her husband, Gal, of Prineville, Ore., and Margaret Schultz and her husband, Gene, of Meridian, and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Harold F. Kniefel, a sister, Mary Dunning, and a stepbrother, Lyle Lavering.

Memorials may be made in Zella's name to the Pioneer Memorial Hospice, 1201 NE. Elm St. Prineville, OR. 97754, or the Elks Rehabilitation , P.O. Box 100, Boise, ID 83702.