Ila Nadine (Miller) Van Stone, 91

Our mother and wife, Ila Miller Van Stone passed on to a better life Jan. 9, 2026.

Always caring for us, she thoughtfully wrote her own obituary.

Ila was born to Harold and Martha Evans Miller on Dec. 20, 1934, in Sandpoint, Idaho, graduating Sandpoint High School in 1952. Her first “big” job was as a bookkeeper at Patton and Anderson Automotive. 

On Nov. 22, 1952, she met her husband, Charles Clinton Van Stone of Clark Fork. They were married Jan. 17, 1953, at Thompson Falls while he was home on leave from the Navy. They lived twice in San Diego during his remaining two years of Navy duty, then moved to Cheney, Washington, where Clint enrolled at Eastern Washington State College (now EWU) in January 1955. That fall he was offered a teaching job at Leadore, Idaho, where they spent four wonderful years. Then it was back to Cheney so he could get his BA degree, and he accepted a 6th grade teaching job just 10 miles away at Medical Lake. They moved with their 10-foot-wide trailer and five little girls, not knowing this would be a lifetime move. 

In February 1962 they bought “the farm” — 19 acres with an old farmhouse five miles northeast of Medical Lake. The farm and family grew; the farm to over 300 acres and family to the sixth daughter. Thus began Ila’s fun days of remodeling, always changing, adding dormers and rooms, wallpaper and paint. She also enjoyed every hour she spent on the tractor, cutting, raking and baling hay, as well as gardening and lawn mowing. In between these chores she worked as a waitress; a perfect job for her, as she always said, “A job that let me walk and talk.” 

When the girls were all in school, Ila started at Spokane Falls Community College where she graduated with honors and an AA degree. She attended a year at Eastern toward an education degree, when her mother’s death in 1976 and the purchase of more property gave her a new interest and she enrolled in a real estate class and subsequently her love of people and houses led her into a few years of being a Realtor. High interest rates slowed that industry and being a Grandma took precedence. Those fourteen grandkids were the love of her life and she felt blessed to have them so near that she could babysit, then later to follow all their school and sporting events. 

When Clint retired in 1988 as the Medical Lake Middle School principal, they began a new phase of their life: square dancing! The friends and physical activity made their 17 years as Hi-Flyers a special time in their lives. She also took many drawing and watercolor classes, as well as a Life Writing class where she wrote hundreds of stories about her life. She and Clint did lots of traveling in the car and camper to all the states but Mississippi, and cruised from Alaska to the Amazon River, through the Panama Canal and flew to Hawaii and China. Ila had been walking every morning, as well as doing fun runs and a couple of Bloomsdays, when she noted she was not able to walk in a straight line, so began the MRIs and X-rays that led to a diagnosis of Superficial Siderosis, a degenerative neurological disease that led to later years in a wheelchair. Always a seamstress, having made all her and the girls clothes, she still made quilts and worked in the flower gardens from her scooter. Yes, it was a good life!

In her 91 years, Ila loved and was loved by so many. She made friends everywhere she went and made everyone feel like family. Ila is cherished by her husband, Charles Clinton Van Stone, and six daughters: Vicki and Gary Erickson, with their children Kimberly and her children Nikko, Adelai, Maceo and Kaius; and Kyle; Rebecca and Scott Williams, with their children Tiffany (Paul Fulton), Amber (Poukong Manikoth) and her children Antigone and Aurelius; and Collin (Alice Lage) and his children Sloane and Cole; Nadine Van Stone (preceded in death September 2020) with her children Joshua and Larkspur (Nolan Langston [Liang]) and her children Henrietta and Hugo; Jody Nelson (Alex Plummer) with her children Zak (Julie Simmons) and his children Sol, and twins Emi and Fin; Ali (Chris Mitchell) and her children Liv, Ila D., Mae, and Van; and Max; Heidi and Ron Cooper with their sons Timothy (preceded in death January 2019) and his daughter Sierra Brock (Ashton Hamilton-Becker) and her children Everett and Elsie; and Cory (Gretchen Bail) and his children Zoey, Flynn and Grady; and Heather Van Stone and her sons Miller and Mason. 

Ila is also remembered by three sisters: Jean Martin, Arlene Lindberg and Velma Pritchett, and eleven nieces and nephews. 

Ila and Clint express their thanks and appreciation to family members and neighbors who provided support to Ila to combat health issues that developed due to her chronic illness. 

We hope you’ll join us on April 4, 2026, at 2 p.m. at the Medical Lake High School auditorium as we come together to share memories and celebrate Ila’s beautiful life.