Anna Laura Gilliland (McEuen) Montierth, 91, passed away peacefully Sunday, March 4, 2018 in Pasco, Washington. She was born to James Garnett Gilliland and Laura Nations Gilliland on February 6, 1927 in Glenbar Arizona, and was raised by her mother and beloved step-father Virgil Ray McEuen. Anna Laura grew up in Fort Thomas, Arizona—a place she believed to be the last of the wild west frontiers. Anna Laura was known as a person with a perpetually sunny disposition and a voracious appetite for learning. Precocious and energetic, Anna Laura was so anxious to go to school that her mother enrolled her in the first grade when she was five years old. The next year she was moved directly into the third grade after the first few weeks. Always a top student, she later graduated with distinction from the University of Arizona with an English Education degree and began her teaching career at the age of 19. During the Easter break of her sophomore year in college, her childhood sweetheart Don Montierth came home on a surprise six-day leave from the Navy before going overseas during WWII. As Anna Laura was preparing to leave town that afternoon, a car horn from behind began honking so loudly that she stopped to see what was happening. Don came running over and asked her to marry him that very weekend before he shipped out. She agreed, and Anna Laura married Don Leslie Montierth on April 2, 1945 in Globe Arizona. They were later sealed in the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple. After the war, the young couple managed a motel belonging to her parents in Safford, Arizona for several years. Adventurous and brave, Anna Laura moved with Don and their first two children to a Columbia Basin farm three miles west of Mesa in April of 1955. As soon as Anna Laura arrived, she was immediately hired to finish out the school year for another teacher at Connell Elementary School. Anna Laura found great joy in being a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and teacher. Her life was dedicated to her extended family and serving faithfully in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Blessed with many natural gifts and a strong determination to do good, Anna Laura inspired the very best in others. She spent her whole life learning and fostering that same love in everyone around her. She never missed a teaching moment and readily shared her talents in literature, speech, and drama. Though her towering strengths were academics and motherhood, Anna Laura rose quietly to the challenge of being a partner in farming. She loved the challenge of keeping the financial machinery of the business in top working order. As a grandmother, she challenged her posterity to memorize whole chapters of the Bible, to pursue higher education and to live responsible lives of service. Anna Laura is survived by her husband Don of Mesa, Washington and six children; Gail Montierth of Nampa, Idaho, Ross (Chris) Montierth of Mesa Washington, Donna (Keith) Baker of Kelso, Washington, Amy (Brent) Christensen of South Jordan, Utah, Mark (Carol) Montierth of Meridian, Idaho and Daniel (Jenifer) Montierth of North Ogden, Utah. She is also survived by 32 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Anna Laura was preceded in death by an infant son Thomas Eugene, her parents and her four sisters; Christine Weech, Ora McInerny, Alice Young and Mildred Dysterheft. Anna Laura has returned home to her Heavenly Father but her exemplary life and influence will live forever in the lives of all she loved and inspired. Her memorial service will be held Monday, March 12 at 10 a.m. at the Basin City Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Viewings will be held on Sunday, March 11 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at Mueller's Greenlee Funeral Home in Pasco and before funeral services at the Basin City LDS Church on Monday from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. Interment will be in Othello, Washington following her service. Contributions in her name may be made to the Perpetual Education Fund of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at http://give.lds.org/pef