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C. Louise Doxtater
Retired Libby schoolteacher C. Louise Doxtater, 92, of Whitefish, died Jan. 6, 2001, at North Valley Extended Care Center after a long illness.
She was born on Aug. 18, 1908, at Havre, to Barbara and Charles Luding. Louise and her twin brother Louis were the first twins born in Havre.
At an early age she moved with her family to Great Falls, attending school there through the sixth grade.
In 1920 her father, who worked for the Great Northern Railroad, was transferred to Whitefish and in 1921 Louise joined her family in Whitefish, graduating from Whitefish High School with the Class of 1926.
She enrolled at Western Montana College in Dillon, graduating in 1928 with an elementary teaching certificate.
Her first teaching position was at Prospect Park, near present day West Valley. She also taught at Stryker.
On Aug. 20, 1933, Louise married Leonard Doxtater in Spokane. They lived at Whitefish, Columbia Falls and East Glacer before moving to Libby in 1939.
Louise taught in the Libby school system for 25 years, retiring in 1972. In 1978 she moved to Whitefish.
She had belonged to Delta Kappa Gamma since 1958, was a member of Flathead Retired Teachers and a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church at Libby and Whitefish. The church played a large part in her life.
Louise was preceded in death by her parents, husband Leonard, brothers Louis and Ross Luding and sister Elizabeth Wood.
Survivors include sons Ken and his wife Betty Anne, Whitefish; Jim and his wife Donna, Black Eagle; brother Calvin and his wife Ruth, Federal Way, Wash.; grandsons Randy in California; Tim and his wife Jeni, Whitefish; Jeremy in Oregon; Jed in Kalispell and great-grandsons Casey of Whitefish and Alex of Bigfork; nieces Sandra Luding, Seattle, Karen Stevens, Whitefish, Barbara Warrington in Colorado, and nephew Lanny Luding, West Glacier.
A memorial service was conducted at the First Presbyterian Church of Whitefish at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9, with the Rev. Andy Kennaly officiating. Burial will follow at the City of Libby Cemetery on Wednesday, Jan. 10.
Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Whitefish or to the Stump Town Historical Society of Whitefish.
Austin Funeral Home in Whitefish is in charge of arrangements.
Warren Harner
Long-time Troy resident Warren V. Harner, 50, died Jan. 4, 2001, at his home in Spokane.
He was born Nov. 27, 1950 in Kalispell to Bill and Tana Harner of Libby.
Raised in Libby, he graduated from Libby High School in 1968 and attended Montana State University at Bozeman and Northern Montana College at Havre.
Warren worked in the grocery business and in mining at Asarco’s Troy mine for more than 10 years where he was a mine shift boss for 6 years. After the Troy mine closed, he attended the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service and worked as a funeral director for Hazen and Jaeger and Thornhill Valley Funeral Homes in the Spokane area, where he had lived for the past 6 years.
He served on the Troy City Council and later became mayor of Troy in the late 1970s. He was also a volunteer fireman and EMT in Troy.
He is survived by his special friend/fiancé Cynthia Scher and her daughters Deanna Christie and Kimberly of Spokane; his son Lt. Archibald Harner of the U.S. Air Force of Yokota Air Base in Japan; his daughter Emily Dorigo and her husband Sean of Moscow, Idaho, his parents, Bill and Tana Harner of Libby; his brother W. Dustin Harner and his wife Renee of Missoula; his sister Sandra Whitlock and her husband Jim of San Diego, Calif., and several nieces and nephews.
Memorial services were conducted at 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, at Thornhill Valley Funeral Home with Pastor Ray Ruef officiating.
Blanche Taft
Blanche McManus Taft, 95, who taught elementary students at the J. Neils Lumber Company camp school in the Bobtail Creek area in the 1930’s, died on Jan. 1, 2001, at North Valley Hospital in Whitefish.
She was born on March 30, 1905, at Eureka, to Jack and Mae Murray McManus.
She was preceded in death by her husband Duane Taft and brother Frank Graves.
Survivors include her sister Leona Lenarz; stepsons Davie and Bruce Taft; nephew Jack Graves, nieces Carol Workman, Chris Lucero and Jan Corneiluson; sister in law Clara Graves and numerous great- and great-great-nieces and nephews.
Services were conducted at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 6, at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Eureka.
Arrangements were under direction of Nelson & Vial Funeral Home.
R. David Huey
Former Lincoln County resident R. David Huey, 48, died Friday, Dec. 22, 2000, of leukemia at Stanford University Medical Center in California.
A native of Seattle, he was born March 26, 1952. He lived in the Yaak area in the late 1970s and early 1980s and lived in Reno, Nev., since 1989.
He was a self-employed band instrument repair technician and piano tuner.
Surviving are wife Brixie Huey, mother Lois Huey, sister Dianne, a niece, a nephew, a great-niece and several cousins.
A celebration of life is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, in Rancho San Rafael, Calif.
Vela Kelley
Vela V. Kelley, 70, died Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001 at her home in Libby.
She was born at Battle Ground, Wash. On July 24, 1930 to Martin and Gladys Adams and was raised and educated in Washington state.
Vela married Arnold Kelley in 1948 at Toledo, Ore., and they came to Libby in 1958 where they had raised their family. She was employed by the Libby Care Center for many years in the food and laundry departments until her retirement. In 1998, she and her husband celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary.
She had enjoyed the outdoors and had participated in league bowling for many years; her greatest joy in life was found in her family as a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister.
Survivors include her husband Arnold; a daughter, Arnelda “Nettie” Cook and her husband Donald of Elko, Nev.; 2 sons, Darald Kelley and his wife Peggy, and Douglas Kelley and his wife Marilyn, all of Libby; 7 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Services will be Monday, Jan 8, at 2 p.m. at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home Chapel. Visitation will be from 1-8 p.m. on Sunday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Libby Volunteer Ambulance, Box 777, Libby, MT 59923.
Marjorie Pomeroy
Marjorie Jane Pomeroy, 80, died Dec. 28, 2000 at her home near Troy.
She was born Jan. 4, 1920 at Hudson, Wyo., to Robert Pomeroy and Barbara Geiger Pomeroy. She was raised and educated in the Toledo, Ohio, area .
During world War II she was one of 20,000 women serving with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. She was stationed in the San Diego area and worked as a cook on base.
Following her honorable discharge, she returned to Ohio, attending The Ohio State University where she received degrees in library science and education.
Marjorie taught for two years in Ohio and had been a public librarian in Ohio, Kansas, Minnesota and Oregon. She had traveled extensively in those states starting libraries in rural areas.
She came to Montana in 1974 where she had resided in the Troy area. For 25 years, she had been a well-known news columnist and feature writer for The Western News until the time of her death.
In the early 1980’s, Marjorie had written and compiled a series of booklets on the history of Troy called “Troy, Montana Yesterdays.”
She had participated in community organizations and projects including the Troy Visitor’s Center, the Troy 4th of July Committee, Kootenai Senior Citizens and had been a member of the Montana Institute of the Arts Writers Group and had been a contributing writer in the group’s literary publications.
Survivors include her sister, Dorothy Mann of Libby; and various nieces and nephews including Becky Toczek of Libby; Bill Mann of Victorville, Calif. (formerly of Libby); Melissa Steinbaugh of Warner-Robbins, Ga. and Amy Contrada of Acton, Mass. (both formerly of Troy).
Services will be Monday, Jan. 8, at 1 p.m. at Milnor Lake Cemetery with military honors. Friends may call at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home from 1-8 p.m. Sunday.
Louis Auge
Louis H. Auge, 87, long-time Libby-area logger, died Friday evening, Dec. 29, at this home in Libby.
He was born in Sidney on Aug. 19, 1913 to Eugene Auge and Rachel Blanchard Auge.
Louis move to the Kalispell area with his family in 1920 and had resided and worked in the Pleasant Valley area from 1931 to 1941. He married Nora Mae Robbe on May 10, 1941.
Louis was hired by the J. Neils Lumber Co. in 1945 and transferred to the company’s woods department in 1946 where he worked as a sawyer. In 1968, he became chief cable rigger for the company, a job he held until his retirement in July 1976.
He became a Christian in 1954 and had been a founding member of Faith Bible Church in Libby, serving as an elder, deacon and in many other capacities in the church throughout the years. He enjoyed working in his garden, camping and fishing and traveling during his retirement years.
He is survived by his wife Nora Mae; two sons, Gene Auge and his wife Darlene, and Ronald Auge and his wife Lynn, all of Libby; three daughters, Sherry Gring and her husband Don of Libby, Merry Lynn Grubb and her husband Russ of Wenatchee, Wash., and Alene Byrnes and her husband Mik of Shiner, Tex.; brothers Alvin Auge of Maryville, Tenn., LeeRoy Coleman of Mountain Home, Ark.; sisters Lorraine Law of Pocatello, Idaho; Beverly Page of Port Orchard, Wash., and LeeVoy Hohn of Spirit Lake, Idaho; 13 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Services will be Thursday, at 1 p.m. at Faith Bible Church with Pastor David Nelson officiating. Services will be a Milnor Lake Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3-8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to Libby Volunteer Ambulance, P.O. Box 777, Libby, MT 59923.
