Woman leaves fortune to local school districts schools for scholarships

By KRISTI ALBERTSON / The Daily Inter Lake

The late Helen Mulloy, a longtime Flathead Valley resident, never had the chance to complete her education.

Mulloy, who wasn't able to finish high school, wanted to make sure others would have opportunities she never had.

So in her will, Mulloy, who died earlier this year, provided $600,000 in scholarship funding to the Kalispell and Whitefish school districts.

"I didn't think it was going to be at the expense that it is, so when it comes to that, I was very surprised," Mulloy's daughter, Janice Luke, said recently. "The scholarship itself, though, and that fact that my mom established it - I wasn't surprised at all."

Mulloy always was a little ashamed at not finishing high school, Luke said.

"By not finishing her education, she always felt a little bit inferior," she said. "She didn't want to tell anyone she didn't graduate."

Leaving school was necessary, though; Mulloy's mother was dying and needed her daughter's care. She also wanted to make sure her daughter wouldn't be alone after she was gone.

"Her mom really liked Dad, who was in the service and was 11 years old than Mom," Luke said. "Her mom wanted someone who would take care of her daughter, so she allowed Mom to marry Dad when she was 17. She kind of pushed it along."

Leaving high school unfinished didn't prevent Mulloy from succeeding in the business world. She got a job as a bookkeeper with Holiness LaBar Insurance in Billings and slowly worked her way up to vice president of the company.

"She spent a lot of hard years before she got to be vice president of Holiness LaBar," Luke said. "She was always learning, trying to mentor from it."

Mulloy also encouraged Luke and her older sister, Pamela, in their pursuit of education. Pamela earned a double major and double minor in college, Luke said, and went on to teach at the American College of Switzerland.

Her parents and aunt helped put Pamela through school, but money was tighter when it was Luke's turn for college.

"By the time my sister got through, there wasn't a lot left for me. I tried to do it on my own for a while, but I couldn't afford it," she said. "I was more or less forced to learn things quick."

Luke followed in her mother's footsteps and landed a good job with an insurance company.

She and her parents lived in Billings for years until the Mulloys bought a place in Sun Lakes, Ariz. In 1969, they bought property in Whitefish. They spent their winters in Arizona but summered every year in the Flathead.

Mulloy's husband, John, died in 2000. Mulloy kept the Whitefish home until 2006, then moved into a condo in Kalispell.

She lived in Kalispell until March 3, when she died of cancer five days shy of her 78th birthday.

Her will stipulated that the Kalispell and Whitefish school districts each would receive $300,000 to provide financial assistance to high school students who might not otherwise be able to afford college.

"If kids had decent grades but not money, Mom wanted to help them get through," Luke said. "It was very important to her for people to have a start in education."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kal-bertson@dailyinterlake.com