Obituary of MaryEtta Louise Hemenway

MaryEtta Louise Hemenway 3/13/1944 to 11/28/2020 was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Elmer & Dorothy Stroud and moved to Idaho when she was still a toddler.  She was raised in Payette and graduated from Payette High School in 1962.  A short time later she married James Hemenway in November of 1963.

MaryEtta was truly an artist.  Throughout her school year she won many contests and awards for her artwork.  Her passion for art lasted her entire life.  Many friends and family were fortunate to receive one of her trendy 80’s sweaters, hand sewn quilts, unique birdhouses, barnwood benches, wood burning art on gourds, or paintings on many eclectic pieces such as old handsaws or repurposed wood.

Even though art was a passion for MaryEtta, she often put it aside to care for the needs of her family.  From the time they were married, MaryEtta & Jim worked at Starks Greenhouse in Payette where all three of their boys had their first jobs.  Three of Jim’s siblings; Tom, Debbie, and Fred also worked there.  I’m sure this is where her and Jim’s love of gardening came from. 

From there MaryEtta would go to work at Champion Homes in Weiser, Idaho and eventually they would purchase a manufactured home she would live in all her life.  MaryEtta also worked at Weiser Wood Products and her last job was with Woodgrain Millworks were she worked on the cutline.  She often brought home blocks of wood with bullet slugs trying to figure how she could make them work in one of her art projects.

In the late 60’s and early 70’s, MaryEtta come in contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses were she learned the truths found in the Bible.  She was baptized in 1975 and enjoyed discussing Bible topics with friends.  She applied what she learned in her life and instilled those values in her three boys.  Her husband Jim eventually came to appreciate these spiritual things as well and they were united in their beliefs.  One foundation of their beliefs that her family holds dear is the Bibles promise of a resurrection and seeing both Jim & MaryEtta again.

The Hemenway home was always a welcoming place for young ones.  Many memories were made in MaryEtta’s kitchen where family and friends waited for her homemade pizzas or fried chicken and her famous dinner rolls.

In 2000 MaryEtta’s husband Jim had a heart transplant and she spent the next 16 years being a nurse to him.  After Jim’s death in 2016, MaryEtta was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s which led to her death on Nov. 28, 2020.

MaryEtta is survived by her brother James Stroud, her sons and their spouses: Rodney & Pam, Terry & Michelle, and Charles & Angie as well as many grandchildren, nieces, nephews and those that looked to her as a mother and grandmother figure.

Arrangements by Lienkaemper Chapel, Ontario.

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