“Birdi” (Roberta) Bosshardt (Phillips), 82, of Lewiston, went to be with her Jesus on Monday, Sept. 10, 2018, in Lewiston.
Birdi was born at St. Francis hospital in Evanston, Ill., on “the fourth of the May” in 1936 to John Samuel Phillips and Caroline Elisabeth Phillips (Gilles). She lived and went to school in the suburbs of Chicago. She attended St. Norbert’s Catholic School in Northbrook, Ill., and attended high school at Glenbrook and Main Township.
As a young girl, her spare time was spent riding horses with her friends. As a teen, she moved to Sportsman’s Country Club in the Northbrook Park District. At age 19, Birdi met the love of her life, Richard Bosshardt. It was love at first sight. Three months after they met, they were married Jan. 5, 1956. Shortly after, the couple moved to Europe with the U.S. Army. They traveled around Europe for a year and a half until their first child, Richelle, was born.
After the birth of their daughter, they moved to Canyon Ferry, Mont., for a year, and that’s where twins Ric and Bob were born. The following year, the Bosshardt family moved to Paonia, Colo., where Russ was born, and shortly after, Rocky, for a total of five kids in four and a half years. Wow; Birdi was amazing.
From there the family moved to Anvil Points near Rifle, Colo. Ric and Birdi, with five little ones in tow, spent the majority of their free time in the mountains. Birdi loved the great outdoors. From rockhounding to hunting, and fishing the streams of Colorado, their trusty wall tent was their home away from home. Birdi served up fresh fish caught by Ric and pancakes each morning to her hungry brood, with fresh syrup made from whatever berries were handy — chokecherry, huckleberry or loganberry. It was a wonderful life. She was a wonderful mom.
The Bosshardts then moved to Walla Walla. In 1970, they made Lewiston their forever home and lived a long and happy life full of love. The family found new mountains, creeks and woods to explore in the Northwest. Birdi’s favorite will always be the times on the St. Joe River, from Huckleberry Campground to Avery and beyond. She, Ric and their entire family, including tons of extended family, spent every summer there for the last 25 years — fishing, hiking, picking huckleberries, exploring caves and tunnels, and sunbathing for hours at the river’s edge with the girls.
Birdi especially loved for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren to join them on the St. Joe, sharing the peacefulness and wonder of her great outdoors. She also had a passion for baking. She loved spending time in her kitchen, where there were always homemade goodies ready to be eaten or taken to a friend. She dearly loved sharing her treats, especially her “huckle buckle,” for which she was famous far and wide, as well as the thumbprint cookies she shared with her special little friends.
Birdi lived for her grands, great-grands and her adopted grands. In 2015, Birdi was diagnosed with aggressive stage 4 breast cancer, but she didn’t let this get her down. She faced the battle with such beauty, strength, grace and dignity, never losing faith in Jesus. After a year of fighting, she was declared cancer-free, a miracle. With a second chance for us all to love deeper, she spent three more beautiful years on this Earth, where she’s had more sass than ever, always sporting pink in her hair for breast cancer awareness.
In November 2017, Birdi was in a near-fatal auto accident. For two long months she fought tenaciously for her life in Intensive Care Units in Spokane and Post Falls, and another three months in Coeur d’Alene rehabilitating — learning to walk, talk and eat again, and of course making more special friends before returning home. She was a walking, talking miracle. Birdi’s passing has left a void in the hearts of all who knew her. She was a wonderful woman who loved hard and was loved by many. Wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend — most who had the pleasure of knowing Birdi knew her as one of these names. But no matter who you were, you always knew her as friend. And if you started out calling her friend, by the end you were probably calling her sister or mother.
She seemed to never run out of love to give. She was constantly “adopting” new family members. We’ll miss her sass. We’ll miss her tube tops, and we’ll definitely miss her huckleberry buckle. Birdi’s signature “yoo-hoos” still echo through her home, every huckleberry patch she entered, as well as the hearts of all who were blessed to know her. Birdi’s humor and laugh were contagious. When she tried to share a story that tickled her, she would laugh through tears gasping for breath, barely able to speak. We will miss and cherish those moments.
She was preceded in death by her siblings, Harold Phillips, Dorothy (Phillips) Neirinckx and Jack (John) Phillips, and most recently her loving granddaughter, Caitlin Riann (Bosshardt) Ordway, with whom she is celebrating and waiting patiently. Birdi is survived by her husband, Ric Bosshardt of Lewiston; her children, Richelle Cadloni (John), Ric (Anna), Bob (Cathy), Russ (Penny) and Rocky Bosshardt; 12 grandchildren; 16 great-grands; and her nieces, nephews, cousins and second family. Yoo-hoo, mom. Yoo-hoo! A celebration of life for Birdi will be announced.
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