Cornelia Clack Graham, 95

Cornelia Clack Graham, 95, died peacefully Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, at Kalispell Regional Hospital, after a mild heart attack. She was born April 22, 1912, in Havre, the only daughter of Philip David and Cornelia (Timmons) Clack. Her parents were Texas natives and she always valued her Southern roots. In Havre, she was active in the Order of Rainbow for Girls, many school music programs and sports, including girl's basketball.

Her cousin was an early Montana pilot and she loved the adventure of fearlessly "barnstorming" with him in his bi-plane when few had ever flown. She began studying piano as a child and received many awards in state music competitions. After graduating from Havre High School in 1929, she enrolled at Montana State University (now the University of Montana) where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education. She was a member of Alpha Phi Sorority.

Upon graduation, she traveled to Fontainebleau, France, to study piano with world-renowned concert pianist Robert Cassadesus. She returned to Montana and began teaching at the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind in Boulder.

When the school moved to Great Falls, she relocated there where she continued teaching and later worked for the military at Gore Field.

She met her husband, Robert McKoy Graham Jr., in Great Falls. He served as a Naval officer during World War II and they were married in Great Falls on Feb. 10, 1943. During her time in Great Falls, she was an active member of the Junior League of Great Falls, the Meadowlark Country Club, the First Presbyterian Church, and was initiated into Chapter I, PEO, an international women's organization that promotes educational opportunities for women.

They moved to Kalispell in 1946 and founded the Culligan Soft Water Service.

Always an ardent classical music enthusiast, she was involved in the Community Concerts Association and was delighted when her former teacher Monsieur Cassadesus performed in Kalispell. Cornelia continued her love of piano and performed many two piano or piano and organ recitals.

She taught Sunday school at the First Presbyterian Church and accompanied the Children's Choir for many years. She was a Girl Scout troop leader, a Cub Scout den mother, and always a willing helper for her children's and their friends' activities. She volunteered for the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Fund and the hospital, was president of Chapter AB, PEO, was a member of the Daughters of the Nile and worked at Flathead High School.

After selling their business in Kalispell, both Cornelia and Bob returned to the field of education and taught school in Avon, later moving to Cut Bank, where Cornelia retired after many years of teaching third grade.

Upon retiring, she and Bob spent a winter in Death Valley, Calif., where Bob worked for the National Park Service and Cornelia volunteered as the pianist for the Fellowship of Christian Ministries. They later spent winters in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., and following Bob's death in 1980, Cornelia relocated to Great Falls, reconnecting with friends and activities from her earlier years there.

As a young woman, she began annual trips with her parents to Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park and a lifelong love affair with the park was born. She hiked almost every trail in Glacier and always told stories of the wonderful back country tent camps that she described as being as "welcoming as any night at the Waldorf Astoria." She began each summer with a fast-paced trek to the Mount Brown Lookout and always felt if she could do that quickly, she could hike anywhere in Glacier.

She helped her parents build a cabin near Lake McDonald Lodge and spent every summer there, enthusiastically introducing her children and grandchildren to the park's wonders. She recently participated in the park's oral history program, recording many of her early recollections of the park.

In her mid-80s, one of her "senior" highlights was a helicopter trip with her son over Boulder Pass, one of the few hikes she had not completed. She returned to Italy at age 83 to visit her granddaughter and to retrace her pre-World War II travels, and just this past October traveled with her favorite cousin, Bettie Lee Timmons Baker of Richmond, Virginia, to Great Falls to tour the new Lewis and Clark Discovery Center and the newly remodeled C.M. Russell Museum.

Always an avid reader and crossword puzzle solver, she loved playing bridge and for many years, raised beautiful roses. She enjoyed watching college and pro football and rarely missed a weekend's game.

Her family and friends will miss her quick wit and her ever optimistic attitude. She taught her family the importance of always giving back to the community and there were many recipients of her acts of quiet generosity.

Preceding her in death were her parents' her husband, Bob; her brothers, Worth and Raymond Clack, and their wives, Irene and Shirley.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Robin and John Bailey, of West Glacier and Hamilton; her son, Robert M. Graham, of Kalispell; her grandchildren, Chris Bailey of Whitefish, and Katie Bailey French and her husband Dale French, of Portland; and her beloved great-grandchildren, Will and Addison French. Also surviving are her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Mary Agnes and Bill Roberts, of Great Falls; sister-in-law, Sue Schwetz, of Spokane; nephews, Geoff Roberts of Kalispell, and Kim Graham of Gardnerville, Nev.; niece, Jane Roberts, of Great Falls; and numerous great-nieces and -nephews and cousins.

Plans call for a memorial service in Glacier Park next summer.

The family suggests that those wishing to send memorials do so to the Glacier Association, P.O. Box 310, West Glacier, MT 59936, to help support the upcoming Glacier National Park Centennial; or to the Great Falls Symphony Association, P.O. Box 1078, Great Falls, MT 59403.