Ilona Maria (Trost) Ode

Ilona Maria Ode, age 79, passed away peacefully April 4th, 2020 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Ilona was born May 25, 1940 to Merton Erza Trost and Dorothy Ellen Holton Trost in Concordia Kansas.

The Trost family moved from Kansas to Idaho and settled in Greenleaf in 1952 where they became members of the Friends Church.  Her father ran Greenleaf Produce.

Ilona was a fighter.  With health issues from an early age that placed her in a body cast she fought through pain and lose of loved ones with a heart that filled her tiny body.

Upon graduating from Greenleaf Friends Academy Ilona attended George Fox College with her cousin Lillian and friend Joyce.  In 1959 she returned home to Idaho and wed her bad boy from Notus, Idaho on December 12th.  Richard worked at numerous farms until he began driving long haul truck in 1973.  Ilona always made sure that he was prepared for each trip and that the family gathered when he returned home for dinner and conversation.

There are so many memories, both hilarious and sad.  In about 1973 with a family of five, and gas shortages the Ode family purchased a bright orange Ford Pinto.  Dad built a small trailer to pull behind the car and we used it as our camping rig and even a trip to Disneyland.  How we got all those long legs in that little tiny car is a mystery.  Tony tells how he used to come to the house and explore mom’s huge selection of knick-knacks.  One day he lifted a lid from one and found a note.  “Tony, quit being a snoop, love Mom”

Ilona lost her mother at an early age.  As the parent of two young children she faced the death of her mother Dorothy Ellen to cancer.  At that time, her lovely Aunts, Bernice Holton and Betty McIndoo stepped in as substitute mothers and grandmothers.  She also filled in as mother for her young sister Debra Joy and later they became the best of friends spending as much time as possible together.  Always the nurturing mother she filled multiple rolls and always treated family and friends with love and dignity while throwing in a bit of natural born smartass.  In 1978 Ilona lost her brother Norman (Bud) Trost to a battle with cancer.  In an action that carried on with the Ode family  Bud’s wife Louise and three children Justin, Julie, and Jared along with a subsequent child Andrea (Annie) remained a part of our family with ties that have continued to strengthen through the years.

She is also preceded in death by her father Merton Ezra Trost, stepmother Dorothy Collard Trost, brother James Trost, and legions of family and friends.  In 2001 Ilona lost a great granddaughter in a brutal tragedy that haunted her always.  May they meet again and continue swinging in the backyard snacking on blueberries. 

Ilona is survived by her Husband of sixty years, Richard Eugene Ode.  They were married on December 12, 1959 at the Greenleaf Friends Church.  50 years later they celebrated their anniversary across the street at the Greenleaf Community Center. 

She is survived by three children:  Son Douglas Lynn Ode of Alaska and his children Nacole Ode of Meridian, Idaho, along with her mother Carla Ode and daughter Spencer Ode and Malcolm and Olivia Ode of North Pole Alaska; 

Daughter Tracey Suzanne Ode of Nampa Ode and her daughter Beth Ellen Vasquez Menchaca and her children Kasen Elijah and Serenity Nova;

Son Anthony Brent “Tony” Ode and his wife Jennifer.  Tony’s children Tyler Brent Ode and Kayla Rae Ode and their mother Tonya Rae Yeakley and Jennifer’s children Hailey Treat (John) and their three children and Hannah Arnold (Brandon) and their two children.

Her brother Rick Trost and his wife Patty of Unity Oregon and her sister Debra Joy Jenson and her husband Don of Bend Oregon.

Ilona had a heart of gold and once you were a part of her family you belonged for a long as you wanted to.   There are friends and family that meant the world to her and losing them through her final years of memory loss would have broken her heart.  Thank you to Eileen Barayasarra and her family, Wanda Jesenko, Charlie and Carol Pintler, the Notus class of 57, and so many others for the joy they gave her.

Losing our wife, mother, grandmother, friend in these uncertain times we will delay a funeral and celebration of her life until life is safe for travel and gathering.  A funeral will be held at Nampa Funeral Home, Yraguen Chapel at a later date.  Celebration of her life will follow at the home of her daughter, Tracey Ode.  Please be sure to contact the family in the meantime with your information so we can let you know the date and time.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Ilona Maria (Trost) Ode, please visit our floral store.