Dolores (Dee) J. Mantese

Dolores (Dee) J. Mantese (Age 83) Was born June 16, 1934 to Mary F. Leistiko and Harry E. Collett in Yakima, Washington. After a life filled with raising children and enjoying grandchildren and great-grandchildren, our mother went to be with the Lord on July 29, 2017. Dee moved with her family to Spokane where she attended John R. Rogers High School and also attended cosmetology school. On a blind date she met the love of her life, Roger Mantese. It was love at first site. They were married September 29, 1951. They had 7 children at their ranch in north Spokane County. Diana Mantese Tutt (Jonathan); Debbie Mantese Baril (Eugene), Roger J. Mantese, Jr.; Teresa Mantese (Sandra Moreland); Antoinette Mantese, David Mantese (Jennean), and Vanessa Gilbert (Joseph). Dee enjoyed 23 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Harriet Jean McFarlane. Dee was a city girl but she embraced the farm life, cooking extravagant feasts for the ranch hands. She was an excellent cook and was famous for her spaghetti sauce. She loved her Arabian mare, Sheba, and was known to let the horse walk into the house to get an apple or carrot. Dee and Roger enjoyed dancing and did so twice a week at the Eagles. She was an active member of the Altar Society and a life-long member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Colbert. She worked for several years at Keystone Packaging. Dee was a past member of the Montfort Belles and served as the Treasurer. Dee is preceded in death by her parents, siblings, Idona Phillips and Harry E. Collett, Jr., two grandchildren, Lowell Baril and Joseph Mantese, and her beloved husband Roger just this past February. Now they are together again, Just Beyond the Moon. Services to be held at the Chapel at Holy Cross Cemetery, Spokane, WA Monday, August 7, 2017 1:30 p.m. Reception following at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Colbert.