Elizabeth Tarr
Elizabeth “Ann” Tarr, 74 passed on quietly April 15, 2012, at Kalispell Regional Medical Center after a brave year and a half fight with pancreatic cancer.
Ann was born in Coulterville, Ill. Her parents Blanch and Mark also were born there. Ann had a sister June, a brother John and a sister Carrie who died early in childhood. The family lived and grew in Villa Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.
Ann went to public school and then on to York Community High School in Elmhurst, Ill. Her husband to be, Bill, or Warren as she knew him, was one grade ahead of her through junior high and high school, although they didn’t really know each other until the summer of 1959 when they started “hanging” out at the local swimming pool.
Bill “Warren,” having finished four years in the U.S. Coast Guard, and Ann, an executive secretary at Sears Roebuck, decided not to waste a cold winter and were married Nov. 11, 1959, at the Elmhurst Presbyterian Church.
Ann continued at Sears until they were blessed with Mark Robert and then William Warren Jr. Ann then became a homemaker until the boys were in school at Whitefish, where they moved in 1968 for a change in lifestyle.
During her 43 years in Whitefish, Ann was a pretty busy gal. Besides raising three very active boys, Bill, Mark and Warren, she found time to pursue her passion for genealogy as well as gardening, quilting, fishing, canoe racing, running (including a 26.2 mile marathon), bicycle touring (once to Chicago), wood carving, alpine skiing and winter camping on touring skis.
She was also a library board member, book club member, sorority member, clerk of the session at the Whitefish Presbyterian Church for more years than anyone can remember, and was a member of the Alpine Ringers bell choir.
She worked as an aide at Whitefish High School and Muldown Elementary School for 16 years. She was a proud member of the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution. She loved traveling anywhere but loved getting home even more.
Ann was a quiet but fierce supporter of her sons and grandchildren. Ann and Bill logged many miles following their athletic endeavors.
She was preceded in death by her mother Blanche Burgher, her father Mark Burgher, her brother John and sister Carrie.
Ann is survived by her husband of 53 years, Bill; sister June Whyte and husband George, of Naperville, Ill.; son Mark Tarr and wife Yvonne, of Columbia Falls, and their children Allyson Lucker, husband Adam and daughter Sydney, of Bothell, Wash., and Aric Tarr, of Bozeman; and son Warren “Will” Tarr and wife Ann Marie, of Vancouver, Wash., and his children Katarina and husband Fabian Wopke, of Essen, Germany, and Conner Tarr, of Vancouver, Wash.
A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Whitefish on Thursday May 31, 2012 at 1 p.m. with the Reverend Ken Peterson presiding.