Alice Colla

Alice Edna Catherine (Cooper) Colla, 96, died quietly Sept. 12, 2007.

She was born Aug. 30, 1911, in Milwaukee, Wis., the daughter of John and Mary Cooper. While attending Lincoln High School in Milwaukee, she met her future husband, Anthony Bernard Colla.

After high school, Alice began a career at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., where her fiance, Anthony, began his career in insurance. The couple was married Sept. 8, 1934, at Saint John's Cathedral in Milwaukee.

The couple later moved to Great Falls, where Alice created a new home for her family across from Meadowlark Country Club, where they perfected their games of golf.

For many years after her husband died, Alice committed herself to service at Saint Joseph Church and became a Pink Lady at Columbus Hospital, where she spent hundreds of long hours in that volunteer program. She adored playing bridge and visiting with friends.

Alice moved to Whitefish after her son James moved there. She moved to Riverside Senior Living in Whitefish, and then to Heritage Place in Kalispell, where she lived until her gentle death.

She is survived by her sons Richard Colla and wife Denise, of Malibu, Calif., and James Colla, of Whitefish; daughter-in-law Sidney Stapp Colla, of Great Falls; grandchildren Elizabeth Colla, Anthony James Colla, Constance Marie Colla-Bentley, Candra Niswanger and Bromley Ann Rittel; 12 great grandchildren; sister-in-law Catherine Alioto; and numerous grandnephews and grandnieces.

Funeral services were held Sept. 17, 2007, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church with interment at Mount Olivet Cemetery, in Great Falls.

Memorials are suggested to Alzheimer's Fellowship of the Northern Rockies, 2621 15th Avenue South, Great Falls MT 59405.