Ila May Barta
Ila May Barta, 80, passed away peacefully Sept. 15, 2013, from natural causes at her home in Columbia Falls surrounded by her family.
She was born May 19, 1933, to Steven and May (Pritchard) Slack in Fort Benton on her father’s birthday. She was the first of four children and had a sister Bonnie and two brothers, Jack and Roy.
Her parents moved to the Snowy Mountains outside Lewistown where she attended Beaver Creek Schools through the eighth grade. She went to high school at Fergus High School in Lewistown and graduated in 1958.
Ila met her husband Bob Barta while attending a dance in Hobson in 1949. They dated until Oct. 22, 1951, when they were married in Billings. They celebrated 61 years of marriage. To this union three sons and a daughter were born, Steven, Donald, James and Laura.
She moved to Leadville, Colo., where she lived for four years while her husband worked for the Climax Mining Co. She moved back to Lewistown in 1957 until 1960 when they moved to the Flathead Valley.
Ila and Bob built a home south of Columbia Falls where they raised their family and lived until her passing.
She had a love for horses, picking huckleberries, picking pine cones and being in the mountains. She also enjoyed hunting, fishing, getting firewood, playing pinochle, garage sales and being a homemaker.
Ila served one term on the board for the Bad Rock Fire Department. She was a volunteer for voting registration and kept score for basketball games at Deer Park School for several years.
She supported the National Rifle Association, Montanans For Multiple Use, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
She enjoyed watching her children and great grandchildren playing sports.
Ila and Bob spent afternoons at the Nite Owl having lunch and danced for many years on Saturday nights at the Blue Moon.
She was preceded in passing by her parents Steve and May Slack, sister Bonnie Craft and brother Roy Slack.
Ila is survived by her loving husband Bob Barta and four children, Steven and wife Merla Barta, Donald and wife Kim (Fleming) Barta, James and wife Faye Barta, and Laura and husband Shane Christianson, and her brother Jack and wife Carolyn Slack, all of Flathead Valley; 14 grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren; and nieces, cousins, sisters and brothers-in-law and friends.
A celebration of life will be held at Deer Park School on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013, at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent in her name to the Bad Rock Fire Department.