ERIKA EMMA REYNOLDS
July 3, 1937 – December 29, 2024
Erika Emma Reynolds, 87, of Boise, Idaho passed away peacefully on December 29, 2024, at St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center.
Erika was born in Lindau im Bodensee, Bayern, Deutschland to Hermann and Emma Stohr. Her early childhood during WWII was a time of turmoil. Her father was forced to join the war by the Nazis and sent to fight on the Russian Front. During this time Erika was sent to live with her grandmother in Kressbronn, Germany and later to an aunt in Switzerland. Sometime after the war she lived briefly in a Catholic convent and later worked as a nurse in Ludwigsburg, Germany where she met her husband, George, a US Army soldier. They were married in Basel, Switzerland.
Her life as an Army wife took her many places. Erika and George lived in Ludwigsburg, Germany, Hampton, Virginia, Paris, France, Aurora, Colorado, Stuttgart, Germany and Colorado Springs, Colorado. She supported George’s military career and was famous for her hospitality, German cooking and hors d’oeuvres. She often helped other military families with childcare, free of charge.
Erika and George separated in 1977 following his retirement. She was a strong and independent woman and continued to live and work in Colorado Springs, Colorado, until moving to Anchorage, Alaska in 1991 due to a serious automobile accident and to be close to her son and grandchildren. She lived in Alaska until 2018 when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake destroyed her Eagle River Apartment.
Over the last six years of her life, she had many medical issues and lived in Silverdale, Washington, Caldwell, Idaho and Nampa, Idaho before moving to Shaw Mountain skilled nursing in Boise. The staff and residents loved her sweet loving personality, and she loved them equally.
She held many jobs over the years. She managed a laundromat, was a short order cook, a front-line chef, a cocktail waitress at the infamous Wagon Wheel in Colorado Springs, a massage therapist, a Certified Nurses Aid, a nanny, in home healthcare provider and school food service cook and cashier. In addition, she often volunteered for charities, churches, shelters and senior centers.
Erika was raised in the Catholic Church and later became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where she taught Sunday School and held many other positions. Many of her closest and dearest lifelong friends are members of the church.
She was preceded in death by her parents, an infant sister and her estranged husband George Reynolds of Las Vegas, Nevada. Erika is survived by her siblings Maria, Emile, Helga and Hermann who live in Germany, her son Lauren and daughter-in-law Rebecca Reynolds of Star, Idaho. Granddaughter Amy Layne and her husband Jaylen of Anchorage, Alaska. Grandson Matthew Reynolds of Calumet, Michigan, step grandson Nicholas Priddy and his wife Justine, and adopted grandchildren Steve and Julie Bold of Bellevue, Washington. She is also survived by her four great grandchildren Garrett, Dane, Autumn “Peanut” and the “Baby” Jamylen.
Erika will be laid to rest at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery in Boise. In lieu of sending flowers or donations, we ask that you volunteer or pay it forward. She would love that. If family or friends find themselves in the Treasure Valley, please feel free to stop by and pay your respects. She would love that as well.
Arrangements are under the direction of Bowman Funeral Parlor of Garden City.