Dorothea Jean (Surber) Provost

Dorothea Jean Provost of Pendleton, Oregon and Gastonia, North Carolina passed away December 2, 2023 at the home of her granddaughter in Gastonia, North Carolina after a brief illness. A graveside service and celebration of life will be held May 4, 2024 in Indian Valley, Idaho at 11:00 a.m. with a luncheon to follow at the Indian Valley Community Center.

Interment of ashes will be at the Indian Valley Cemetery.

Dorothy Jean Surber was born June 24, 1924 in Montour, Idaho, the second child of Benjamin Woodson and Celia Catherine (Powell) Nielson Surber. The family moved to a farm in Indian Valley, Idaho when she was two. She started school at 5 along with her older sister so that they could go together. They attended the Grays Creek School for one Year, then went to the Indian Valley Grade School from the Second grade through the 8th grade. The nearest High School was at Cambridge, Idaho, but there was no bus at the time and her parents didn’t own a car so for her Freshman year she moved to Boise, Idaho and went to Boise High School while living with her Aunt and Uncle, Oliver Edward “Rick” and Martha Edith (Bauguess) Powell. Her sophomore and junior year, Dorothy and her Sister Helen shared an apartment in Weiser, Idaho and attended Weiser High School. By the time her senior year rolled around, her parents had bought a car and she and three other Indian Valley students were able to take turns driving their parents cars to Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Idaho. Dorothy graduated from Cambridge High School in 1942 and went to work for Mountain States Telephone Company in Weiser, Idaho until joining the Navy on July 17, 1944, during WWll.

She was stationed at the Bronx in New York, Hawthorne, Nevada and Treasure Island, California. She met and married her husband, Herman Louis ‘Bud’ Provost, from Woburn, Massachusetts on April 26, 1946, while both were stationed at the Navy munitions and supply depot in Hawthorne, Nevada. She was honorably discharged on May 04, 1946. Bud was honorably discharged on August 23, 1946.

They moved to Indian Valley, Idaho, where Bud worked for the U.S. Forest Service, building a road up the Little Weiser River. Their first child, Ronald Louis Provost was born at Council, Idaho. Bud then went to work in Stibnite, Idaho for the Bradley Mining Company. The mine was located in the primitive part of Idaho and was famous for its mercury, antimony, gold and its tungsten ores. Bud worked there for four years where he was a heavy equipment operator. Their next two children Constance Jean was born in September of 1949 and Randy William in May of 1951. Stibnite had their own hospital, an airstrip, barber and beauty shop and store. They had everything they needed as the road could be closed a lot in the winter. When the mine closed in July 1952, they along with many of the other mining families moved to Weed Heights, Nevada, where Bud went to work for the Anaconda Copper mine. Their children attended school in Yerington, Nevada, which was 5 miles from Weed Heights. The Mine brought television to the valley. They also brought in the first bowling alley as well as the first swimming pool. Families from Yerington were welcome to enjoy these recreations. This is where Dorothy first learned to swim and took lessons along with her children. However you better not splash her or there would be hell to pay.

Dorothy was always there to volunteer her time and was a room mother for her children’s classrooms and a 4-H leader. She was very well known for her maple bars that she made for the school bake sales. All her kids’ friends requested them and her kids always said “sure she would be happy to make some”. At one point, she even wrote a column for the Weed Heights news (gossip) column in the Mason Valley Newspaper. Dorothy was a good seamstress and made a lot of her kids clothes.

After Connie graduated from Yerington High School in 1967, the family moved to Pomona, California and later to Chino, California. She worked for a department store for a couple years, then went to work for a bank retiring in 1989. Bud and Dorothy traveled for the next five years in their 5th wheel trailer, visiting their children, seeing the country and visiting family before moving to Joseph, Oregon in 1997 to be near their daughter. Unfortunately, Bud’s health deteriorated and he passed away in August of 2000.

Dorothy’s mother, Celia Catherine (Powell) Nielson Surber passed away 5 months later on January 24, 2001 at 105 years old.

Dorothy spent the next 10 years living in Pioche, Nevada as well as traveling with her good friend Jim Bean. After Jim passed away in 2015, Dorothy spent time living with her older sister Helen in Nampa, Idaho and loving every minute that they spent together! Those were the happiest days of her life! They were the FINE sisters… they were fine, everything is fine, all is fine. Once they got to the point where they needed more help, Dorothy spent her time between her daughter’s house in Pendleton, Oregon and her granddaughter’s and son’s houses in Gastonia, North Carolina.

Dorothy is survived by a daughter, Connie (Provost) Black of Pendleton, Oregon; and two sons, Randy Provost of Davidson, North Carolina, and Ronald Provost of Davidson, North Carolina; six grandchildren; Rodney William Provost, Kristopher Renae (Provost) Lincoln, Jodi Lynn (Black) Snook, Brent Dean Black, Erika Danell (Black) Patton, and Brandee Lyne (Provost) Wilson, 19 great grandchildren, as well as her older sister, Helen Lois (Surber) Frasier. She was preceded in death by her husband, Herman Louis ‘Bud’ Provost; her parents, Ben and Celia (Powell) Surber; two brothers, Daniel Theodore ‘Ted’ Nielson and William Joseph ‘Bub’ Surber, as well as four sisters, Bernice Marie (Nielson) Bott, Doris Marjorie ‘Sis’ (Surber) Stillwell, Shirley Joan (Surber) Flint and Carol Afton (Surber) Clarkson; two great grandchildren, Elliette Nicole Lincoln and Aidan Madaket Lincoln.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Indian Valley Cemetery Association at P.O. Box 97, Indian Valley, Idaho 83632.

‍