Mary Loretta Bauman

Mary Loretta Schaeffer Bauman, a lifelong homemaker, passed away peacefully at her daughter's Lewiston home Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2002. She was 82.

She was born Aug. 6, 1920, in the "old house" on the family farm at Ferdinand to Joe and Anna Schaeffer. She attended school on the Camas Prairie, including one year at St. Gertrude's Academy. She graduated from Ferdinand High School in 1938. She entered St. Joseph's School of Nursing in Lewiston and graduated in 1941. Her first job as a registered nurse was at St. Mary's Hospital in Cottonwood.

While a nursing student doing her rotation on the maternity ward, she met a young medical doctor, James Bauman. They married June 20, 1942. Dad used to joke that "they met in the delivery room and never left," as they had eight children together. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June 1992. James passed away in 1998.

After marrying, they moved to Portland, Ore., where she worked at St. Vincent Hospital as a staff nurse and he was an intern there. After one year at St. Vincent, her husband joined the war in Europe, serving at the 113th Evacuation Hospital, and she moved back to Idaho. In 1946, after James returned, they lived in Elmhurst, Ill., where he had a residency at Hines Veterans Hospital. In 1950 they moved back to Lewiston, where he had a practice in dermatology.

She was a longtime member of St. James Catholic Church in Lewiston. She always put God first in her life, believing that all things would work out if you put your trust in God. She was an excellent wife and mother and her family was her pride and joy. She always had a ready ear and words of wisdom to help you through any "crisis." She also had a heart of gold and made you feel loved and valued as a person. She enjoyed reading, planning family get-togethers, camping, gardening and poetry.

Survivors include her children and their spouses, Maryann and Steve Nogle and Susan and Randy Beck, all of Lewiston, Annette and Mike Carraher of Post Falls, Idaho, James J. Bauman of Cottonwood, Gene Bauman of Stansbury, Utah, John Bauman of Spokane and Bill and Laura Bauman of Hayden Lake, Idaho; two sisters, Armella Haener and JoAnn Meyers; and three brothers, Ralph, Eugene and Harold Schaeffer. She had 21 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

In addition to her James, her son, Bob, her grandson, Ryan Beck, and her sister, Ann Wensman, preceded her in death.

The vigil will be at 7 p.m. Friday at St. James Catholic Church in Lewiston. The rosary will be recited at 9 a.m. Saturday at the church. The funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday with Father Dick Haldane as celebrant.