Derrelie Adams Cottrell

Derrelie Adams Cottrell passed away under hospice care on March 3, 2022 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  She was born November 13, 1932 in Lewisville, Idaho to Faye Walker Poulson and Vance Poulson. She grew up in Idaho Falls attending O.E. Bell Jr. High and Idaho Falls Central High School.

She married Ralph Adams in the early 1950's but they later divorced. She raised three children in Idaho Falls working as a bookkeeper at The Post Register and later for Gate City Steel, where she became the first woman to be promoted to the sales team.

Derrelie loved hard work whether it be in the yard, roofing the house, or building her own fireplace.  She was a terrific seamstress and taught herself upholstery.  She loved music and had a beautiful singing voice. Above all, she loved her children and encouraged their many musical talents.

She married Julian Francis Cottrell in 1978 and moved to his home in Silver Spring, Maryland where she then worked for a large property management company until she retired in 1998.  She and Julian liked to travel and preferred long cross-country drives in America and Canada.  They were married for 33 years until his passing in 2011.

Derrelie moved to Coeur d'Alene in 2012 to be near her son and daughter and enjoyed road trips to Idaho Falls to reminisce fun times living there.

She is preceeded in death by her three sisters, Beverly Bird of Idaho Falls, ID (2004), Yvonne McMullin of Portland, OR (2007) and Jone Crabtree of Silver Spring, MD (2009); her husband Julian Cottrell of Silver Spring, MD (2011); and her daughter Delia Adams of Silver Spring, MD (2011).  She is survived by her son Greg Adams and his wife Tonya of Los Angeles, daughter Cindy Adams of Coeur d'Alene, plus four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

A graveside Celebration of Life will be held this summer at the Lewisville Cemetery, where centuries of the Walker family are interred.