Matilda Machacek

Matilda (Votroubek) Machacek

January 11, 1920 ~ January 15, 2020

Matilda (Votroubek) Machacek passed away peacefully from natural causes January 15, 2020, four days after celebrating her 100th birthday, at DeSano Place Suites in Gooding with her daughter, Carolyn, by her side.

Matilda was born in Buhl, Idaho January 11, 1920 to John and Stephanie (Kohoutek) Votroubek, Czechoslovakian immigrants, and grew up on the family farm southeast of Buhl. She attended Buhl schools and graduated from Buhl High School in 1938. She and her future husband, Joe Machacek, lived in the same neighborhood and met while attending several Czech celebrations. They married in 1939, had four children, and lived on their farm in the Clover area also southeast of Buhl. Matilda sold the farm and moved to Moon Glo Retirement Village in 2003 where she lived for 10 years.  She suffered a stroke at 93 years old and moved to Gooding to live with her daughter, Carolyn.  She moved to DeSano Suites in Gooding where she lived for two years until she passed.

Matilda was a member of the Clover Trinity Lutheran Church and the Western Bohemian Fraternal Association.  She was very proud of her Czech heritage and was very active in the fraternal association.  She taught English to Czech refugees and Czech dancing to many children in the Magic Valley providing traditional costumes.  She worked with refugee programs at the College of Southern Idaho teaching American language and customs to refugees coming into the valley.  She also taught people to speak the Czech language and translated letters that came from the Czech Republic.  Additionally, she helped Joe on the farm both in the fields and tending to cows, chickens, geese and turkeys, raising a large garden and canning or freezing the bounty. Matilda worked as the route 1 mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, first on a part-time basis and then full-time until retirement.

Matilda loved to crochet, embroidery and quilt.  She worked with a group of seniors at the Buhl Senior Citizen Center in making quilts for people from all over the country and donated the proceeds to the Senior Citizen Center.  She was involved in making what became the Idaho centennial quilt that was adopted by the state where it is on permanent display in the capital building and toured the state during the centennial.  She also loved playing pinochle with many friends and family and spent many days camping and fishing with Joe.  She traveled to the Czech Republic on three different occasions to visit many of the relatives there. In 1969-1970, Matilda and Joe sponsored a high school exchange student, Agnes De Crits from Huy, Belgium who has visited several times since and has remained very close to the entire family.

While living on the farm, Matilda and Joe’s door was always open to neighbors, family and friends.  Each day, a 30-cup pot of coffee was brewed, sometimes twice, and, often, Matilda would make between 100 to 200 donuts or kolache, a favorite Czech pastry filled with different concoctions made with applesauce, prune, cottage cheese or poppy seeds and neighboring farmers would stop by for a visit before the day’s work started for coffee and a discussion of current pressing issues or funny stories.  If Matilda had a new batch of treats, word was soon out over the CB airwaves and the kitchen would be full of people.  Those days, neighbors would stop by any time of the day as time allowed to enjoy the tasty treats that seldom lasted longer than a day. That tradition carried on even after Matilda moved to Moon Glo although it involved fewer people and smaller batches of goodies.

Matilda is survived by her children, Carolyn (Eugene) Herzinger, Kathy (Ron) Pyke, Wanda Machacek (x-wife of David, deceased) and Gary (Pat) Machacek; grandchildren, Kelly (Debbie) Herzinger, Laurie (Michael) Bachmann, Matthew (Maria) Pyke, Benjamin (Katy) Pyke, Luke (Summer) Pyke, Travis (Jessica) Machacek, Holly (Salamon) Mathews, Heather (Nate) Hall, Tina (Troy) Barnum, Jason (Holly Hallet) Machacek, Cara Machacek (James Stangeland), and Dylan Quinn; and 25 great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Joe; her son, David; and siblings, Martha Sullivan, Miles Votroubek and Alma Schooler.

A viewing for Matilda will be held from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm, Friday, January 24, 2020 at Farmer Funeral Chapel, 130 9th Ave N, Buhl, ID. Matilda's funeral service will be held at 11:00 am, Saturday, January 25, 2020 at Clover Trinity Lutheran Church, 3552 N 1825 E., Buhl, ID, with reception following at the Clover School. Graveside service will follow at 1:30 pm at West End Cemetery, 1574 E 4150 N, Buhl.

Memorials may be made to Clover Lutheran Trinity Church, West End Senior Citizen Center or charity of your choice.

A special thank you goes to the excellent staff at DeSano Place Suites who took wonderful care of Matilda in her last days as well as the staff at North Canyon Medical Center and Hospice Visions.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on Matilda's memorial webpage at www.farmerfuneralchapel.com.