Shirley Ammondson

Shirley Anne Ammondson, 79, of Whitefish, died from complications of a rare neurological disease on Feb. 14, 2007, at North Valley Hospital.

Shirley was born July 13, 1927, in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Frank and Beulah Black and the youngest of 10 children.

She married Ralph Ammondson in Fairfield on April 21, 1945. After Ralph was discharged from the army, they lived in Fairfield, where he served an apprenticeship in printing at the Fairfield Times newspaper.

They lived in Columbia Falls from 1956 through 1969, then in Missoula through 1979, when they moved to Eugene, Ore., returning to Montana in 1999 when Shirley was suffering from the neurological problem.

Shirley was a skilled seamstress and also worked for some time at a fabric shop in Missoula. Her favorite activities were making and dressing dolls, doing floral arrangements and gardening.

During her early married years she, joined her husband fly fishing and camping with friends. In later years, she had to give up the fishing. They belonged to RV clubs in Eugene and were members of the Twin Oaks Christian Church.

Shirley was especially attached to and proud of her grandchildren, and even as her health was failing, she was concerned about them and her great grandchildren.

Survivors include her husband Ralph; daughter Leslie Jo Darling and husband Larry, of Columbia Falls; sons Ken, Kyle and Kevin; daughter Barbra Jane McEvoy and husband Bruce and their daughter Heather, of Whitefish; and son Randall John and wife Joyce, of Peoria, Ill., and his daughter Cyndi; eight great grandchildren; and a brother, Carl Black, of Sacramento, Calif.

Cremation took place Feb. 19, 2007, at Columbia Mortuary in Columbia Falls. Inurnment will take place at Woodlawn Cemetery later in 2007.

The family suggest memorials to the North Valley Hospital Foundation, 6575 U.S. Highway 93, Whitefish MT 59937.