Beverly Irene Brown Gilley, 75

Beverly Irene Brown Gilley, 75, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, at the Immanuel Lutheran Home in Kalispell. “She now joins her husband of 53 years in heaven.”

 The family would like to thank the staff at Immanuel Lutheran Home for caring for Mom during her final months.

She was born on Halloween, Oct. 31, 1936, in Brownville, Neb. She was one of six children born to William “Earl” and Mildred “Marie Brown. Living a modest life with her large family, she was very focused on what the word “family” truly meant. That is how she lived her life and taught her children and grandchildren that family is truly what is important in this world.

Gary “Gilley” and Beverly were married on Jan. 12, 1957. To their union four children were born. Beverly and Gary lived the early years of their married life in the Midwest.

Mom enjoyed her garden and canning. One of her favorite things to do in the fall was to gather Black English walnuts and hull them on their screened-in porch. We would often spend the fall and winter nights shelling those walnuts and reminiscing as a family.

They moved their family to Montana in 1978, first living in Hamilton and then settling permanently in the Flathead Valley. Mom had various part-time jobs through the years. Her main priority was her children. She worked as a ward clerk for several years and then worked part time at a local dry cleaners here in Kalispell.

In the later years of working, Mom was able to travel across the country in their motor home, visiting family and friends as far east as Arkansas and as far south as Mexico. They spent their winters in Arizona, and the rest of the year in their home state of Montana with their family. After some health issues they decided to stop traveling and spent their remaining years with her children, their spouses and their grandchildren.

Bev’s strength and perseverance to recover from her previous heart surgeries and strokes would later cause her vascular dementia, which she was not able to overcome.

Beverly was preceded in death by her parents, William “Earl” and Mildred “Marie” Brown; brothers, Warren and Richard Brown; sister, Shirley Smith; and her husband, Gary Gilley I; and son, Gary Duane Gilley II.

She is survived by her son, Mark, and Laurie Gilley, of Columbia Falls; daughter, Valerie, and Rex Galloway, of Kalispell; daughter, Teresa, and Brad Miller, of Kalispell; seven grandchildren, Jason and Danielle Gilley of Columbia Falls, Tabitha and Jordan Venezio and Erica Miller, all of Kalispell, Jamie Sue Gilley Pierce of Kansas, and Logan Nosbusch of Minnesota; sister Myrna Jones, and brother William Earl Brown Jr., of Little Rock, Ark.; along with numerous other family and friends.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home is caring for Bev’s family. You are invited to go to www.jgfuneralhome.com to view Bev’s tribute wall, offer condolences and share memories.