Pauline M Sproul

Polly Sproul, at the age of 89, passed away on April 17, 2014.  Born Pauline Herrbach in the fall of 1924, she became the first born of immigrant parents in the sleepy village of Nampa, Idaho.  She grew up during the depression in a neighborhood of Basque families and often helped out at the family café, The Honker.  After high school, she attended nursing school in Astoria Oregon.  The friendships she made there lasted throughout her life with reunions and get-togethers.  After the war, she worked at the Veterans Hospital in Boise, Idaho.  On weekends, she enjoyed social gatherings with friends at the American Legion Hall.  This is where she met the love of her life, Jess Sproul.  Although the beginnings of love pulled at her heart, she left the country to travel to France with her mother to meet her extended family for the first time.  After several months, she returned home and renewed her budding romance with Jess.  On July 3, 1949 they married in St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Boise, Idaho.  Polly worked as a nurse at St. Alphonsus hospital until the birth of their son, John.  A daughter, Mary Lou, soon followed and Polly found herself juggling parenting and working with the dedicated support of her husband.  Two more daughters, Judy and Teresa, entered the world and Polly continued to work part time at St. Alphonsus hospital.  The 1950s and 1960s became a blur of active family life with school programs, summer vacations and canning vegetables from the family garden.  In 1963, their long-awaited second son, Tony, was born.  A short eight years later, tragedy struck the Sproul family with the sudden death of Jess; and Polly, at the young age of 47, became the sole support of her five children.  At that time she worked as a school nurse and survived the struggles of life without her husband.  Eventually, as her children grew up, left home and established their own lives, she found interest in traveling, playing cards, and going out to dinner and theater with her life-long friends.  Eventually, grandchildren graced her life and she enjoyed large family gatherings.  A few years before her death, she and her daughter Teresa, bought a house together and Polly became very grateful to have such a dedicated and loving companion and caretaker.  At the time she was quietly accompanied to heaven by her guardian angel, she left behind five children, six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren as well as several step-grand and step-great-grandchildren.  In addition to her husband, Jess, Polly was preceded in death by her brother, Louis, her nephew Steve, and her grandson, Jayme.  Our mother, mom, mumsy, grandma, grammy and GG will be missed by friends and family alike.  A traditional Catholic service for Polly will include a vigil at 6:00 pm with rosary at 7:00 pm on Thursday, April 24 at Cloverdale Funeral Home.  The Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Friday, April 25 at 11:00 am at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on State St. in Boise.  Graveside services at Cloverdale Memorial Park will follow.  A reception for family and friends at Cloverdale Reception Hall will end the day.  Polly has requested that donations to the MS Society/Foundation be made instead of flowers.