Julia 'Judy' Eva (Trosper) Evenson, 95

Judy was born on Oct. 11, 1919, in Pomeroy, Washington, to Benjamin Carlos and Jeanne Dinkins Trosper. 

She passed away peacefully on Feb. 1, 2015, in her new apartment at Timber Creek Village at the age of 95, after a difficult battle with congestive heart failure. 

She spent her early years on the family farm outside Pomeroy. She had many experiences and close encounters with the many rattlesnakes that live there! Her mother died when Judy was just 9 years old and after that she spent school years with an aunt in Clarkston, Washington. Later the family moved to Kellogg, Idaho, where her father worked in the mines and then on to Kalispell. She graduated from Flathead County High School in 1937.

She met and fell in love with Wallace G. Evenson and they married Dec. 15, 1938. Wally was drafted into World War II and was in the European front when their son, Jay, was born. Wally was captured by the Germans on their wedding anniversary. After the war, they continued to live in Kalispell, staying there the rest of their lives. In 1947 they added a daughter, Pamela, to the family. Judy and Wally were married 55 years when he passed away in 1994.

Judy always had a big garden and at times even two gardens. She loved to hunt and shot many deer, elk and antelope over the years. She stopped hunting at 89 because of vision problems. She also developed a reputation around the valley as an artist. Oil and acrylic painting were her favorites, but again her vision forced her to stop doing what she loved.  She was always very active and her family had to scold her for getting up on her patio roof in her late 80s to shovel snow off!

Early in the 1950s, they started studying the Bible and developed a deep love for their Creator and His faithful son, Jesus. They were baptized in 1951 as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Judy enjoyed telling people about Jehovah and the love He and his son have shown for mankind in making it possible for people to have everlasting life on the paradise earth promised in the Bible. Even in the hospital Judy was concerned about people she had been visiting with about the Bible’s message and her inability to go see them. She looked forward to the fulfillment of Revelation 21:3,4 when death will be no more, and John 5:28,29 where it promises a resurrection to life. 

We look forward to seeing her again in perfect health with her family all around her here on a paradise earth. This was her sure hope from the Bible.

Judy was preceded in death by her parents, Benjamin Carlos and Jeanne Trosper; two infant brothers; her stepmother, Lula M. Trosper; husband, Wallace Evenson; infant daughter; son, Jay W. Evenson; grandson, Bret Shanks; and great-grandson, Victor Estes. 

Survivors include daughter Pamela, and husband, Bob Shanks, of Whitefish; granddaughter, Toria Benet, and her husband, David Estes, and their children, Alec, Samuel and Olivia, of Anderson Island, Washington; grandsons, James and Lindsey Shanks and their daughter Morgan of Lakewood, Colorado, great-grandson Chance Malcom of Nevada; Randal and Susanne Shanks, their children Kaidan and Makenna of Everett, Washington, and Joel and Dawn Shanks of Missoula and their children.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses at 1100 West Reserve Drive, Kalispell, with a reception to follow at the Guest House Suites Winchester Room (formerly the Outlaw Inn).