Donna Mae Larson
Donna Mae Larson, 74, died Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014, at the Immanuel Skilled Care Center in Kalispell. She began to experience the ill effects of Alzheimer’s disease in 2003, and had been receiving loving and compassionate care from Home Options Private Care, the Immanuel Skilled Care Center — Bratsberg Wing, and Home Options Hospice.
Donna was born Aug. 19, 1940, in Columbia Falls, the third of five daughters and one son born to Chauncey and Beatrice Beebe. When her mother’s parents died, Donna’s household increased by four uncles, and later took on three additional friends looking for a place to eat and lay their heads at night. Referring to those earliest years, Donna occasionally said, “I felt like I was part of a litter — struggling for sustenance and attention.”
Donna and Mike Apgar were married in 1955. They began to raise their four children in Columbia Falls, not far from the Apgar community in Glacier National Park named after Mike’s grandfather.
Later they moved to Wyoming where Mike and Donna managed an Indian Mission for a number of years. Subsequently, Mike became a much-honored law enforcement officer. He died in 1974. Donna and the children moved back to Montana where she supported her family by wallpapering, painting and decorating homes in the Flathead Valley.
On Aug. 27, 1977, Donna and L. Peter Larson were married in Kalispell, adding three more children to their family on a part-time basis. Donna became a full-time homemaker, a part-time lay Christian counselor, a flower gardener and a mentor to several young women. She particularly enjoyed short-term Christian mission trips to encourage people less fortunate than herself.
Over the course of several years, Donna traveled to Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Israel, Nigeria, Russia and Sweden as a short-term missionary. Locally, she helped to found the Lighthouse Christian Home for the Developmentally Disabled.
Donna was preceded in death by her parents Chauncey and Beatrice Beebe; her sister Laura Owens; and her first husband Mike Apgar.
She is survived by her husband L. Peter Larson at the family home in Kalispell; son Steve Apgar and Sandi Browne of Kelowna, B.C.; daughter Kelly Apgar and husband Glenn Gardner, of Somers; son Michael Apgar and wife Gretchen, of Kalispell; son Tyler Apgar and Tonia Gardner, of Kalispell; stepson Brent Larson, of Helena; stepdaughter Dr. Robin Larson, of Plainfield, N.H.; stepdaughter Julie Larson-Alkire and husband Martin Alkire, of San Jose, Calif.; sisters Dixie Emerson, Nancy Clapper and Eva Markus; and brother Donny Beebe. Finally, Donna’s legacy will be carried on by her grandchildren Kate Apgar, Kitt Haddenham, Kayla Anderson, Seth Brothers, Ingrid and Astrid Alkire, and Dara and Coco Apgar and great grandchildren Gracen and Lincoln Haddenham.
A celebration of Donna’s life will be held at Hope Church, 436 Birch Grove, Kalispell on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. A private family graveside service was held at the C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial gifts be made to Home Options, 275 Corporate Drive, Suite 600, Kalispell; Immanuel Skilled Care Center, 185 Crestline Avenue, Kalispell; or Lighthouse Christian Home, 384 North Somers Road, Kalispell.