Slain woman 'wore heart on her sleeve'

Friends fondly remember Morin

Lorraine Kay "Rainey" Morin loved her children and her animals.

The 46-year-old single mother had six children, ages 9 to 28, plus some grandchildren.

And she owned several horses, goats, cats and dogs.

But Morin was found shot to death Sunday morning in her lifelong home on Montana 206.

Her on-and-off boyfriend of around two years - Robert Dean Kowalski, 46 - has been charged with deliberate homicide for her death. He is in the Flathead County jail, awaiting an April 3 arraignment.

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office arrested Kowalski Monday evening after a 31-hour siege of his Montana 35 house - with gas canisters forcing him from his home.

"She didn't deserve it," Morin's friend Virginia Fraser said. "She was a very good and loving person. I could call her up anytime and she'd help out."

Longtime friend Julie R. Jaeger said: "I'm just devastated. I can't believe it."

Friends and neighbors described Morin as upbeat, outdoorsy and devoted to her children.

"Her face glowed when she smiled," friend Denise Michel said.

The Daily Inter Lake could not reach Morin's family this week.

Morin grew up in the house at 2275 Montana 206 and inherited it after her parents died. Some of her children continued to live in other buildings on the property for a while after growing up.

Morin once was pregnant at the same time as one of her daughters, Jaeger said. When her grandchild was born before her own child, it became a fond joke between them, she said.

"Lorraine wore her heart on her sleeve, which caused her a lot of pain with men," Jaeger said. "I guess she paid the ultimate price for her honesty. She was one of the most honest people I've met in my life."

Morin was married at least once.

Money was tight for the single mother.

"She was a worker. She worked two jobs all the time. There was nothing lazy about her," neighbor Larry Stanford said.

Another neighbor, John Brickerhoff, added: "She had to do the man's work."

Morin - average to small in size with shoulder-length blonde and brunette hair - held several jobs, including trying out landscaping last year.

When Morin worked, it usually was in the evening, Jaeger said. At one point, she tended bar at the Silver Bullet bar on Montana 206.

She had a special charisma as a bartender that encouraged people to talk to her.

"People came there just to see Lorraine," Jaeger said. "She was liked by everybody."

Of her life elsewhere, Michel said: "She had a smile for everybody. She wasn't afraid of making friends."

She routinely helped an elderly neighbor - who since has died - work in his garden, and then frequently took him to a tavern for a beer.

Morin's ranch-like property holds several horses, goats, cats and dogs. "She was a very avid animal lover," friend Tammy Olson said.

She frequently went riding with her kids on horseback.

A few years ago, Morin agreed to put a motocross track on her land - a track that soon closed because of opposition from neighbors and an adverse court ruling.

"She just wanted to do something for the kids, to help keep kids out of trouble," Olson said.

Morin liked motorcycling, although she apparently cut back in recent years.

"It was just the open road. All your senses come alive, and I think that what she liked about it," Michel said.

Morin also did photography and rafting for awhile and loved dancing.

Jaeger recalled one night when she and Morin went to go see county music star Eddie Rabbitt play at Flathead High School. After the show, Morin went up to the stage to talk with the band, scoring a guitar pick and other souvenirs.

"She asked if they would like to go out and, you know, see the town and get a drink," Jaeger said.

After meeting band members at their hotel and taking them out to Moose's, the party moved to the Blue Moon near Columbia Falls. In the company of three famous band members, Jaeger asked who was more likely to be shy and intimidated.

"In this case it was them," she said.

While at Moose's, Morin and Jaeger carved their names into a wooden pole near their table.

"She enjoyed her nightlife, but she always, always, always put her children first," Jaeger said. "She loved her cowboy boots, she loved her cowboy hat, she loved cowboy music and she loved cowboys. And if she wasn't with her children, she was at her place caring for her horses."