Shirley Anne Ammondson, 79

Shirley Anne Ammondson, 79, of Whitefish, died from complications of a rare neurological disease Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007, at North Valley Hospital. Shirley was born July 13, 1927, in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Frank and Beulah Black, the youngest of 10 children.

She married Ralph Ammondson in Fairfield, on April 21, 1945, and when Ralph was discharged from the army they lived in Fairfield where he served an apprenticeship in printing at the Fairfield Times newspaper.

They lived in Columbia Falls, from 1956 through 1969. Then in Missoula through 1979 when they moved to Eugene, Ore., returning to Montana in 1999 when she was suffering from the neurological problem.

Shirley was a skilled seamstress and also worked for some time at a fabric shop in Missoula. Her favorite activities were making and dressing dolls, doing floral arrangements and gardening. During her early married years she joined her husband fly fishing and camping with friends. In later years she had to give up the fishing. They belonged to RV clubs in Eugene and were members of the Twin Oaks Christian Church.

She was especially attached to and proud of her grandchildren and even as her health was failing she was concerned about them and her great-grandchildren.

Survivors include her husband, Ralph; daughter, Leslie Jo Darling and her husband, Larry, of Columbia Falls and their sons, Ken, Kyle and Kevin; daughter, Barbra Jane McEvoy and her husband, Bruce and their daughter, Heather, of Whitefish; and son, Randall John and his wife, Joyce, of Peoria, Ill., and his daughter, Cyndi; one brother, Carl Black, of Sacramento, Calif.; and eight great-grandchildren.

Viewing will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19, at Columbia Mortuary in Columbia Falls followed by inurnment in Woodlawn Cemetery later this year.

The family suggest memorials to the North Valley Hospital Foundation, 6575 Highway 93, Whitefish, MT, 59937.