Miss Lily DeCleir A long time Boise Educator has died. Miss Lily DeCleir, a long time Boise resident and educator died Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007 after a prolonged illness. She was 88 years old. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007 at 10 a.m. at St. Mark's Catholic Church. Interment will follow at Dry Creek Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Cloverdale Funeral Home. Miss DeCleir was born in Antwerp, Belgium on Oct. 12, 1919. At the age of 15 she enrolled in a private teachers' college to follow her dream. For five years she studied the fine art of teaching most subjects taught in grades one through twelve. After she graduated, and throughout World War II, she worked as a substitute teacher. At the end of the War she was decorated by the King of Belgium for her work in the Belgian underground helping to hide downed Allied pilots and ferry them back to safety. Her first trip to the U. S. came in 1947 to visit her aunt, Germaine Olson. She loved the area and the people so much that she returned 18 months later to stay. Her first job in Boise was as a nurse's aid at the Elks Rehabilitation Center using the medical skills she learned and perfected during the War. In 1951 Miss DeCleir began what was to become a long and fruitful teaching career in Boise. Her first position was at Lincoln Elementary. After two years she was assigned to teach second grade at Madison Elementary, and in 1955 she moved to the brand new Adams Elementary School where she was a second grade teacher until she retired in November of 1981. In addition to earning the respect and admiration of her students and parents, she was honored in 1975 by being selected as the Idaho Teacher of the Year and was runner-up National Teacher of the Year. Miss DeCleir was known as a disciplinarian, and came across as a bit on the strict side in class, but she always had a hug and a word of encouragement for every one of her students. Her hallmark was her commitment to getting, and keeping, the parents of her students involved with her in the education of their children, and she devoted countless evenings every year visiting their homes to discuss issues affecting each child. Students and parents alike remained loyal and in touch with her long after she retired. Miss DeClair has left some very large footprints on the Boise education landscape. Miss DeCleir loved to travel, and filled her retirement with trips and golf, with a sprinkling of bicycle riding, walking and long summer evenings sitting on the porch at home or at a cabin in Stanley with her life-long friend, Betty May. She loved to visit with friends and former students, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing how her teaching was still evident in each of them. Miss DeCleir is survived by numerous cousins, nieces and nephews throughout Western Europe. There are the Vereyckens, Paul and Jenny and their sons, Samuel, James and Michael of Surrey, Great Britain, Mariette Plichart-DeCleir of Antwerp, Belgium, Maria DeCleir-Evers of Brasschaat, Belgium, Guy DeCleir of Emblem, Belgium, and Eddy and Christiane Plichart of Antwerp, Belgium and their three children, Ilona, Marc and Eric. Ilona remembers visits from Miss DeCleir and how she attracted and captivated small children by reading stories and visiting their schools and simply being the teacher that she always was. She remembers her family's three visits to the States to visit Miss DeCleir, and how she took them traveling to show them all the wonders of the Western U. S. She always wanted to go back to Belgium for just one more visit but her health would not permit it. These three young people will always hold a special place for the Teacher, as will we all. Miss DeCleir is also survived by Charles May and his family of San Jose, Calif., and Keith May and his family of Spiro, Okla. Miss DeCleir, to have known you is to have loved you. Each of us whose lives you have touched has gone farther, climbed higher, and accomplished more than we would have, had you not been there to challenge us. Good-bye, Teacher.
Published in the Idaho Statesman from 10/28/2007 - 10/29/2007.