Nancy Ann Holter, 91

Nancy Ann Holter, 91, passed away peacefully Saturday, June 4, 2016, at St. Patrick Hospital, surrounded by her family. She lived at The Springs Independent Living since March and is formerly of the Bigfork area, Great Falls, Glasgow and Sun City, Arizona.

Nancy was a loving mother and grandmother, and a proud veteran of the Navy WAVES during World War II. (“Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service.”)

She was born in Chisholm, Minnesota, in her grandparents’ home on Jan. 4, 1925. She was full of stories about her youth in that area, the “Iron Range,” once rich in iron ore mining, and growing up among so many ethnic groups – Scandinavians, “Slavs,” Poles, Italians and Greeks. It may have nurtured her deep love of all people and her talent for getting to know them.

Her parents were Van and Jenny Stolpe. She showed her talent for music at an early age and by age 13, played in the orchestra and the school song at all of the assemblies and was asked to accompany soloists. In the WAVES, she was accepted to the “Singing Platoon” of talented women and recalled singing with Perry Como at a memorial service for President FDR at Rockefeller Center.

She attended Hibbing Junior College and University of Minnesota, earning a Bachelor of Science in Music Education degree in 1949. She married Willard L. “Bill” Holter Aug.14, 1948. Before graduating from UM, she’d had baby no. 1, a daughter named Lynn, and Bill began his studies in the new field of radio broadcasting. His career spanned Montana. He was inducted into the Montana Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2002 for his radio ownership across the state including stations in Great Falls, Missoula, Helena, Glasgow, Malta and Livingston.

Bill was a Marine 2nd lieutenant and flight instructor and always had a passenger plane. Nancy was a willing “co-pilot” and the two traveled extensively across the world to Mexico, the Bahamas, Panama, Costa Rica and Cuba, not to mention flights across Montana and the United States.

Throughout her life she was a choir director or accompanist at various churches and sang in the Great Falls Symphony Choir. She served on volunteer boards for United Way, Girl Scouts, YWCA and the symphony, enjoyed musical theater and the productions of Bigfork Playhouse. She attended the Methodist Church in both Bigfork and Sun City.

She was active in her P.E.O. group Chapter AX of Great Falls and Daughters of the Nile as Bill was active in the Shrine.

In 1972 the Holters moved to lakefront property on Flathead Lake and spent summers working the sprawling cherry orchard of 700 trees. In 1987, Bill was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and they downsized to a smaller place with a gorgeous view. Bill passed away in 2005 due to complications of Parkinson’s. Nancy began snow birding to Sun City during winter months. Nancy kept up with a Minnesota group of friends, the Red Hats, her ex-WAVES, P.E.O., and daily swimming. In summers she returned to her home near Yellow Bay.

She is survived by daughters, Lynn (Mike) Redpath of Great Falls, and Jann Berntsen of Livingston; sons, Ross (Janet) Holter of Kalispell, and Todd Holter of Los Angeles; Lynn’s children, Krista Redpath Pyron and Van (Brooke) Redpath of Missoula; great-grandsons, Evan and Oliver Pyron, and Finley Redpath, of Missoula, and grandsons Carl Berntsen and Casey Berntsen of Livingston; and Mack (Rebekah) Holter and Dillon Holter, of Kalispell. They were the loves of her life! She is also survived by the close friends who’ve shared her almost-daily phone calls, and surrogate daughters and sons she has loved for years. You know who you are.

A celebration of Nancy’s life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at Garden City Funeral Home and Crematorium, 1705 W. Broadway, in Missoula, with a reception to follow. Cards, letters and stories are welcome!