Mildred Devereaux Goodrich, 87

Millie passed away May 11, 2010, at Heritage Place in Kalispell. She was born June 18, 1922, in Brady Town, Mich. She and her five brothers and two sisters grew up on the family farm. At a country dance, Millie met Sidney Goodrich. They were married two years later on Dec. 14, 1940, in Grand Rapids, Mich. The family grew to include a son, Larry, and a daughter, Janet. Sid joined the Navy during World War II. Millie and the children moved to Brant, awaiting his return, where she worked in a small electrical motor factory. When the children were in school she helped out in Scouting and 4-H Clubs. In Janet s senior year of high school, they opened their home to a German foreign exchange student named Jutta. She is still considered a daughter in the family and has come back to visit in later years. Facing an empty nest, Sid and Millie headed for Great Falls where Sid worked for Boeing Aircraft on the Minute Man Project. They bought a cabin on McGregor Lake. In 1973, they bought and operated the Izaak Walton Inn. Millie ran the kitchen, dining room and housekeeping departments. Eventually, they sold the hotel and returned to McGregor Lake, and began another adventure traveling the world to Germany, Russia, Japan and China. A few years later they bought a trawler-style boat and lived in the Bellingham harbor for two years. Sid and Millie began annual summer cruises to Alaska, circumnavigated Vancouver Island, and cruised the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound. In 1990, Millie had a stroke. Her doctor gave her permission to continue boating with Sid for as long as they liked. They sold their home, car and boat and drove to Florida where they bought another boat. Sid named it True Grit for Millie s unfailing fortitude. For the next two years Millie was first mate as they cruised up and down the Inter-coastal Waterway to New York, up the Hudson River, and into the Great Lakes. In the fall they cruised down the great rivers of the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico and back to Bradenton, Fla., for the winter. Millie tended the stern lines while they transited over two hundred locks. Together, they sailed enough mileage to go around the globe twice. Later, they bought a home in Florida and sold the True Grit. They continued traveling to Greece and Turkey, and went on two cruises to the Caribbean Islands, Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala. They also traveled to Australia four times to visit Janet (who has since passed away) and their grandchildren. Millie and Sid say they have lived a happy, adventurous, exciting life during their 67 years together " and counting. Millie was preceded in death by her parents, Wells and Lennie Devereaux; and daughter, Janet Mae Goodrich. She is survived by her husband, Sidney Goodrich; son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Rosalee Goodrich; grandchildren, Julie, Matthew, Joan, Cybele, Carina and Travis; great-grandchildren, Brittany, Tyler, Zane, Brennan, Aerro, Zephyr, Zinnia, Cyan and Adamar; and siblings, James Devereaux, Kathryn Muirhead and Mary Beth Spike. Cremation has taken place. Services were held May 14 at Buffalo Hill Funeral Home.