Leota May Pierce Loveless, 86
Leota May Pierce Loveless, 86, passed away on Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 at the Heritage Place in Kalispell. She was born on Feb. 2, 1919 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to John W. and Leota May (Belmear) Bartlett.
May was the youngest of seven children and the only child not born in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma, where her family had homesteaded. Her mother died when May was 2 years old and she was raised by her father, whom she affectionately referred to as PaPa.
May graduated from Idaho Falls High School in 1937 with honors. In 1939 she married Dale Roger Pierce in Idaho Falls. Shortly after they married the couple moved to Dillon, where Dale was employed by the Forest Service during the summer and attended college in Logan, Utah, in the winter. In 1941, May moved with Dale as he was transferred with the Border Patrol to Malta and then to Browning. When he left the Border Patrol in 1945 they purchased the Rising Wolf Guest Ranch located on the south fork of the Two Medicine. That was their home until 1957. At that time they moved to Columbia Falls. Dale passed away in Columbia Falls in 1961. May continued to raise her three younger children in Columbia Falls, while she worked at Todd's Cafe.
In 1972, May married Willard Loveless in Columbia Falls. They moved to Woods Bay in 1977 and lived there until moving to Kalispell in 1992. Willard passed away in 1993. May enjoyed her beautiful yard and flowers and loved her two cats and her dog, Cody.
May was preceded in death by her husbands: Dale Roger Pierce and Willard Loveless; her parents; three brothers: Edgar, George and Johnny; and three sisters: Beatrice, Mable and Edith.
She is survived by her five children: Koralyn Pierce Kibbee and husband, Larry, of Manhattan; Dale Raub Pierce and wife, Cheryl, of Kalispell; Lynette Pierce Dyk and husband, Dwight, of Toston; Tamarra Pierce Thompson and husband, Gary, of Clark, Wyo.; and James B. Pierce and wife, Nancy, of Kalispell; several grandchildren and great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.
Memorial services for May will be held later this summer. The family suggests that memorial gifts be given to the Humane Society.
Johnson Mortuary and Crematory is caring for May's family.