Rhonda Kaye (Herzog) Hoon, 58

Rhonda Kaye (Herzog) Hoon, 58, of Columbia Falls, passed away surrounded by her loving family on Tuesday, June 20, in Kalispell, after a courageous battle with her health.

Being a mother and grandmother was her greatest joy. Rhonda is also a respected and skilled office manager and bookkeeper.

She selflessly devoted her talents to her family’s entrepreneurial pursuits. She was instrumental in the successes of both her brother and son’s businesses, as well as being influential in many other people’s individual entrepreneurial endeavors.

She was always willing to lean into the difficult situations that came with working in family-owned businesses. Not to mention the natural strain of operating a business.

Her willingness to lean into those difficult situations allowed for all of us to chuckle at her “bull in a China hutch mentality.”

She made sure you knew where she stood and this was especially true if it came to her protecting someone, or something, she deeply cared for.

As a writer I lead with this description about business, not because business was more important to her than family, but because it is the only true way in a short story to help paint a picture of who she was when it came to her true passion in life, which was family.

She was tenacious with her love for family. She was described by one of her sons the other day as selfishly selfless. I, as her other son writing this, felt it was a perfect description to share wrapped up in two words what described our mom.

She loved family so deeply that even if you may not agree with her stance on a particular topic, there was no arguing the point that the only reason she was anchored so strongly in her opinion was the fact that she loved so strongly. She wanted things to turn out so well for the particular situation, she was not going to move from her stance.

I believe this example of her love was depicted in her final days on this earth. Even when God came calling, she battled for 10 days to stay with her family on comfort care.

Even though she had been extremely nutritionally malnourished from cancer, and was also fighting off pneumonia from just a week prior, it was very evident in her demeanor in her final days that no matter what she may be enduring because of her illness, she wanted to squeeze every second out of this life to be with her family.

Mom from the bottom of your three children’s hearts, your six grandchildren, all your family, and all your friends out there, just know we are better off because of you. We are grateful for you and are thankful of you.

So as this life ends and your next journey begins, we want to say, "To da loo, I love you," "See you later alligator, after awhile crocodile.”

A celebration of her life will be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 28, at Darlington Funeral Home, 3408 U.S. 2 East in Kalispell.

Darlington Cremation and Burial Service is caring for the family.