Agnes F. Hummels

Agnes F. Hummels, of Post Falls, Idaho, departed from this life to be with her Lord and Redeemer on Aug. 17, 2018. After a lengthy, painful struggle she spent the last days of her life peacefully at Hospice of North Idaho, surrounded by loving family.

This amazing woman was born Agnesa Feodrovna Aristovoulova, on May 26, 1929, in Harbin, Manchuria, (now China) of Russian parents, and grew up during violent times in Shanghai, China. There she met Glen L. Hummels, a handsome American from Nebraska who was serving as a sailor stationed in Shanghai. At the end of his Naval commitment, Glen switched to the Army in order to entice Agnes to marry him, who claimed that she “wasn’t about to marry a sailor because sailors have a girl in every port!” Then, less than a week after they married on Dec. 17, 1948, they were forced to flee China as the communist regime took over.

Once in the U.S., she served her new country as a faithful military wife and homemaker in Ft. Riley, Kan.; Ft. Benning, Ga.; Ft. Richardson, Alaska; and two lengthy assignments at Ft. Bliss, located in El Paso, Texas, where she and Glen settled upon his retirement from the military.

Agnes loved children, and when her three had flown the coop, she opened her home as a daycare to neighborhood children who, now as adults, remember her fondly. She also loved dogs, especially golden retrievers. After an automobile accident left Glen incapacitated, Agnes faithfully and lovingly cared for him at home for six years before he passed in 2003. She remained in El Paso, living with the youngest of their three children, John Hummels.

She reluctantly left her beloved El Paso in 2010 to move with her son John to Post Falls, Idaho, residing not far from her eldest child, Cathy Guinn of Athol. Agnes is also survived by her daughter, Debra Parise, of Corona, Calif., who blessed our children-loving mom with four grandchildren: Matthew Parise, Nicole Espino, Jessica Hydro and Rachel Parise, all of whom then blessed her even more with a total of 10 great-grandchildren. Agnes has two younger sisters, Irene Capotosto of Cranston, R.I., and Jeannette Hendryx, the youngest, who sadly passed before her in 2013.

Quoting her grandchildren, “Agnes had a joyful heart, a giving soul, a stern hand, and a loving touch.” “My babushka has always been there for me even when I was screwing up.”

And quoting her son, “She was beautiful inside and out! Everyone she met fell in love with her! She had an amazing life and story to tell. But most of all, she had a servant’s heart. She was always giving and she always put others first before herself. Loving God and loving people is what she was all about.”

A celebration of life was held at her daughter Cathy’s house in Athol, Idaho.

A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, at St. George’s Catholic Church in Post Falls. In lieu of flowers, the family would encourage donations to Hospice of North Idaho, 2290 W. Prairie Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815. Yates Funeral Homes has been entrusted with the care of arrangements. Please visit Agnes’s memorial and sign her online guest book www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.