Ramona Joyce Vincent, 87
On July 17, 2019, our mother was united with her husband William Vincent on what would have been their 71st wedding anniversary.
Ramona Joyce Waymire was born April 23, 1932 in Eureka to Lora Campbell Waymire and Cully Waymire.
She moved to Kalispell in grade school and to Somers in her teenage years.
She attended Flathead County High School until she met a young Navy veteran, William Vincent, returning home to finish his high school education.
Our parents were married in Somers on Seven Row at a small wedding in her parents’ home.
Early in her marriage she started making salads for the local delis to sell to their customers. She loved cooking and making her own recipes. Mom worked in the food restaurant business for over 45 years. Starting at the White Star Café in the late 50s, the B&B Restaurant for almost 1 years and Fred Meyers’ Eve’s Buffet restaurants in Salem, Ore.
After retirement in 1993 she returned to Kalispell and cooked for the Feeding the Flathead program, “the last Friday night of the month” for over 15 years.
In the late 80s, Mom ran a “little old ladies home,” a care home known as “Jester House” in Salem, Ore. for three years. It was the hardest job she ever had but she loved it the most, until she became a little old lady herself.
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Vincent. Mom fashioned herself with a house full of children. Both of them were only children, so they looked forward to a house full of children. They had five children: Bill in 1949, Rich in 1950, Linda in 1953, Monie Rose in 1954 and MaryAnn in 1955, a family of seven in seven years. They got what they wanted.
Our father died July 19, 1984 of a massive heart attack at age 57. Mom started traveling to fill a lot of this void. That same year she started yearly treks to Pennsylvania to visit her daughter Mary and family. She met a lot of people there over the years and many became her family in Pennsylvania.
One summer she drove her three teenaged grandchildren and an eight-year-old to Washington, D.C. to see the White House and the Treasury. The trip started and ended in Salem, Ore. She thought every grandparent should take their grandchildren on a long trip.
Over the years she was able to go to Hawaii twelve times; Alaska three times and, of course, Pennsylvania 36 times. We can’t forget Mom bought her car because she looked good in it while driving down Main St. in Kalispell—her reflection in the store windows. She used it making her record trips to Oregon in 10 hours.
Mom died on May 11, 2019 with family at her side. She was looking forward to seeing the mansion that Jesus promised her and spending Mother’s Day with her mother after a 65-year separation.
Mom was preceded in death by her parents and her much-loved husband, Bill, and her grandchild, Michael Andrew Miller. Survivors include her children: Bill (Marty), Rich (Carol), Linda Reposa (Wayne), Monie Rose Vincent and Mary Spory (John), as well as two former daughters-in-law, Marcey Seamon and Debra Leonard.
She is also survived by 11 grandchildren: BJ Vincent, Andrew Vincent, Rich Vincent Jr., Stacey Vincent, Kelsie Root, Anna Vincent; Makala Miller, Malissa Miller; Rachel Leek, Nathan Spory and Jenna Sharp, as well as five great-grandchildren and a great-great grandson.
Mom, Gram and GG, we all miss you so—your sense of humor, your smile and you just being here. By God’s Grace, we will all be together again.