Anna 'Dollie' Mendenhall, 102
Anna “Dollie” Mendenhall (Devlin) passed away Feb. 6, 2018, at the Brendan House in Kalispell with her daughters by her side. Dollie was born Sept. 9, 1915, in Sherbrook, North Dakota, during the second year of World War I. Dollie was the fourth child of 14 siblings. As a teenager, she moved to Montana to work in Yellowstone National Park, and later to Cut Bank to work in her brother-in-law’s cafe. While working in Cut Bank, she met Charles Paul “Chuck” Mendenhall and got married on Nov. 1, 1941, the same year the United States entered World War II. They were married for 63 years, until his passing in 2004.
Chuck and Dollie raised four children, Dianna, Charlotte, John and Charles. Dollie was preceded in death by her youngest, Charles, who died in a commercial fishing accident in Alaska. During the war, they traveled with Chuck taking jobs in Washington, California, Colorado and Alaska, but they would always return to the state they loved the most — Montana. They moved around Montana as Chuck worked as an outfitter in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, owned and managed the Graves Cabins in East Glacier, and finally returned to Cut Bank where Chuck took a job in the oilfields and Dollie ran a boarding house. Ultimately, they retired to their family homestead cabin at Blacktail, on the border of Glacier National Park, which everyone in the family just referred to as the Ranch. At the Ranch they hosted friends and family often — for vacations, holidays and always hunting season.
At 4 feet 10 inches and a little light to be a jockey, Dollie was a true Montana spirit. While traveling with Chuck in his Ford pickup Dollie always brought along the Billings phonebook, which some found odd, until they discovered she sat on it so she could see out the window at the beautiful Montana scenery. During stays at the Ranch, her children and grandchildren remember fondly the early morning and late evening rosaries by oil lamp and robust meals for all. She always kept a pack of firecrackers handy so she could scare off bears when Chuck was away, which was days or weeks at a time during hunting season. Dollie lived her life without ever having a driver’s license or driving a car, and after a fire at the courthouse where the records were held, no real identification whatsoever. She kept her true age a mystery for decades until one curious family member decided to check her voter registration.
Preceding her in death were her husband Chuck, son Charles, granddaughter Lisa Kennedy Baier, and son-in-law Chuck Hartung. She is survived by her daughters, Dianna Hartung, and Charlotte Kennedy and husband Ed; her son, John, and wife Wendy; grandchildren, Shelly Kennedy and fiance Eddy Fox, John “Tre’” Kennedy and wife Leann, Ronnie Hartung and wife Georgeanne, and Ricky Hartung and fiancee Estela Sledge; great-grandchildren, Dillon and Rueger Baier, Sarah, Norah, Nouf and Rayan Rashoodi, Eddy and C.J. Kennedy, Kelsie Baier, and Valerie Benkelman and husband Brent; and great-great-grandchildren, Kaven and Kamden Benkelman.
While at the Brendan House, Dollie enjoyed feeding all the squirrels and birds that would stop by frequently. She enjoyed her caretakers and they were delighted by her playful and witty personality. She remained devout to the very end, and her family knows she said one final rosary just before relocating to heaven.
A rosary will be said at 7 p.m. on Monday evening, Feb. 12, at Risen Christ Catholic Church. Mass will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Risen Christ Catholic Church.
Arrangements are under the care of Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home.