Carolyn D. Settle-Lee, 77
Born to Tom and Eileen Close in Glendale, California, Feb. 19, 1944, Carolyn was the oldest of four girls. While she appreciated pretty things and getting dressed up, she was the tomboy of the group and loved to work on things outside with her dad.
After graduating high school in Spokane in 1962, she did a year of business college in Sheridan, Wyoming. She married Steve Settle in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on July 23, 1966. They added two sons and a daughter to the family, along with a love of Jeeping that lasted the rest of her days.
Carolyn was an accomplished seamstress and won a working with wool contest with a business suit she designed and made. While that was the end of sewing contests, she made countless clothes and costumes for her kids, often late into the night. Carolyn loved to be outside in the summer. Gardening, picking huckleberries, and swimming in the lakes around town were at the top of her list of ways to spend her time. She couldn’t turn away a stray, whether it was the puppy her daughter brought home from school or a friend of the family in need of a place to stay. Carolyn was a great cook and she made sure you didn’t leave her house hungry. She also made it nearly impossible to steal her recipes as she would eyeball the amounts and say things like, “Add more until it looks good.”
She worked as a bookkeeper and tax consultant and started Kalispell’s first dance supply store in 1984. In 1995 she spent the summer working in Bristol Bay, Alaska, working as a bookkeeper. While in Alaska she met and brought home Jeffry Lee whom she married in the spring of 1998. From then on she spent her time taking care of her mom and providing daycare for several of her grandkids.
In 2016 her dementia reached a point that she could no longer care for herself and she moved to Bigfork at the Lakeview Care Center. While there, she was known as being sweet and feisty with a quick wit and faster reflexes than you’d expect. She loved bingo in the afternoons and enjoyed her time with the other residents until she passed on the evening of Aug. 30, 2021.
Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents, Tom and Eileen Close; sister, Patricia Smith; and her grandson, Bryan Oryall.
She is survived by her husband, Jeffry Lee; sisters, Katie and Eileen O’Shea; children, Kevin Settle, Bill Settle and Barbara Strong; and grandchildren, Justin Wang, Shelby Daniels, Kyler Settle, Tyler Harper, Cody Settle, Mackenzie Settle, Samantha Settle, Sydney Strong, John Settle, Kara Strong, Luke Strong and Jacob Strong.
Arrangements are under the care of Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home.