Shirley Pauline Parker, 79

Shirley Pauline Parker passed away on Monday, March 23, 2015, in Kalispell. She was 79 years of age. 

She was born July 4, 1935, in Kalispell and a lifelong resident of the Flathead Valley, residing in Bigfork. She graduated from Batavia Grade School and Flathead County High School. 

She was married to Gerald Parker on July 11, 1953, and they celebrated their 61 years of marriage last summer. She worked as a clerk for Echo School and bookkeeper for Thermal Tech, besides being a homemaker and mother to her family. 

She was an avid participant in her ceramic club and a member of Swan Chapel for many years. She also loved working in her garden of pink roses, daffodils and peonies, and baking pies and cookies for her family.

She is survived by her beloved husband, Gerald Leon Parker, of Bigfork; sons ,Terry Leon Parker and wife Ann Parker, and Wesley Allen Parker and wife Lori Parker; daughter, Laurie Rae Johnson; sister and lifelong friend, Ellie Nauman; grandchildren, Ben Johnson, Katie Cochran, Megan Johnson and Jeff Nunamaker, Charles and Heather Parker, Adam and Kristen Parker, Stephanie and Corey Joiner, Michael Parker and Kat Wilson and Kyle Parker; and great-grandchildren, Morgan Cochran, Ashley Cochran and Holden Parker.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Emil and Ellen Mellem; her five brothers, Jack, Emil, Wilbur, Russell and Robert Mellem; and her three sisters, Mary Holcomb, Florence Robinson and Clara Gardner. 

A funeral service will be held at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28, at the Easthaven Baptist Church in Kalispell, with a burial to follow at Glacier Memorial Gardens, and with a reception to follow burial for family and friends back at Easthaven Baptist Church.

Memorials are suggested to Gideons International, or a charity of your choice. 

Friends are encouraged to visit the website, www.buffalohillfh.com, to leave notes of condolence for the family. Buffalo Hill Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.