Dorothy 'Mykkel' L. Wallace, 96

Mykkel Wallace, a life well-lived

After a long, active and fun-filled life that touched so many, Mykkel Wallace passed peacefully, surrounded by family, this past September 2025, in Coeur d’Alene.

Born Dorothy Carnahan in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1929, she was the youngest child of Alma Knight and Donald Carnahan. Soon after her birth, the family moved to San Francisco, Calif., trying to outrun the Great Depression. Her father nicknamed her “Mike,” and it stuck. Around age 4, the SF Fire Department was called because her sister told her to stick her tongue on a light post when it was cold and she couldn’t get it off.

By age 7, the Great Depression caused her mother, Alma Carnahan, brother Donald and sister Betty to move to South Carolina to live with Ma and Pa Knight. “Mike” was an avid troublemaker and flunked fourth grade because she ditched school half the year. By high school graduation, her sister had married, and her brother had joined the service.

She left home to attend Peru State Teachers’ College in Nebraska in 1945, where her Uncle Giles taught history. She was only 16 when she travelled alone across the country by train from Lancaster, S.C., to Peru, Neb. The trains were full of soldiers coming home from WWII and she said they were very kind to her. In college, she got in trouble for wearing too-short short-shorts. And then there was the time she and her roommate were smoking in their dorm room. (They attempted to sneak the smoldering mattress down the back stairs.)

She met her future husband, Kenneth Stroupe, at college. They married and had a daughter, Vanessa, and son Jeff. After college graduation, the family moved to Lincoln, Neb., in 1959. The couple embraced their new suburban lifestyle and the American dream. She created an amazing, loving home life that was full of fun and created many cherished memories.

“Mike” was a stay-at-home mom until the family moved to Fort Collins, Colo., in 1967. She enrolled at Colorado State University and received her master’s degree in education. Then, in 1968, moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to begin teaching Home Economics at Coeur d’Alene Junior High School. Students she taught in this era knew her as Mrs. Stroupe (later Mrs. Wallace). She was pretty, easy-going, fun, and cool.

She loved living in Coeur d’Alene and in the summer of 1969, she began working at The North Shore Hotel, her beloved annual summer job for over 35 years. During her early years at the North Shore, a fellow employee re-christened her “Mykkel,” and she went by that name the rest of her life. Mykkel worked at the hotel’s front desk and, after her teaching retirement in 1994, was a hostess on the St. Joe Cruises well into her 80s. Her grandchildren all have fond memories of going for a summer cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene with Gram.

She never stopped enjoying life. At age 93, Mykkel joined her daughter and grandson, Michael, for one last trip away from Coeur d’Alene. She ate chocolate-covered strawberries, drank champagne and grooved to Mr. Carlos Santana's “Live in Las Vegas.”

She was a classy lady, the coolest mom, and a free, gentle spirit full of laughter. She was relentlessly positive, no matter the circumstances. Can't pay all the bills? Throw them up in the air and pay the first one that hits the floor. She was always an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on, and as a result, had a life full of family, friends and genuine happiness.

Mykkel was preceded in death by her beloved son, Jeff; her dear sisters, Jane and Betty; and her hero-brother, Donald. She is survived by her daughter, Vanessa Anstine; grandchildren: Ryan Miller, Jody Stroupe and Michael Anstine; great-grandchildren: Nathan Miller, Courtney Miller, Jacob Miller, Owen Miller, Christian Stroupe, Collin Stroupe and Camron Stroupe; nieces Betsy Hegler and Jane Hegler; and nephews Donald Carnahan, II and Julian Hegler. Our family is expecting Mykkel’s first two great-great-granddaughters this year!

Her lively spirit has ascended, but the good times and stories her life created will endure in the hearts and minds of those touched by her life. Our family asks all who wish to share their memories of Mykkel with us to please go to www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.