Mary Elizabeth Frampton, 66

Mary Elizabeth Frampton, 66, of Whitefish, passed away at home on Feb. 13, 2025. 

Mary was born Feb. 25, 1958, as the sixth of seven children to Agnes and Harold Winter in San Antonio, Texas. 

The daughter of a military father, Mary grew up primarily in Ridgecrest, California.

Mary married Dennis Heggem in 1975 and had a son, Michael.

She moved to Montana in 1975. While working at the Oxford Bar, she met the love of her life, Kent, in 1983. They married on April 1, 1987.    

Mary and Kent moved to Whitefish in 1984, and she worked with Kent as he developed his casino business. Mary continued in that role until 2018.

Mary loved traveling with Kent, music (listening, singing, dancing, memorized statistics, etc.), driving her CRC Corvette, scuba diving, bowling, online scrabble, shopping, and playing poker — a hobby at which she was very successful in many poker tournaments. Mary constantly outsmarted family and friends with fun facts, often winning a dollar bet in the process. 

Everybody who met Mary fell in love with her. She was kind, devoted, and always had a smile on her face. She was a loving bride, mother, and grandmother. 

In 2018, Mary’s life changed when she suffered a massive stroke. As a result, she had aphasia and lost the use of her right side. With Kent’s urging, Mary worked hard at physical and speech therapy. Mary and Kent were very fortunate to have nearly seven more years together.    

She was preceded in death by her mother, Agnes; father, Harold; brother, Robert Winter and sister, Kathy Winter.

She is survived by her husband, Kent; siblings, Margaret Moore (Robert), Angela Grandjean (Darrell), Michael Winter, and Barbara (Robert) Boland; children, Michael Heggem, Kyrene (Stephen) Butters, Sean (Diana) Frampton, and M.J. Lannaghan, five grandchildren, Ethan, Tatum, Maria, Ryan, and Luke; Jill Frampton and numerous other nieces and nephews. 

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate you donating to a charity of your choice.

A visitation and viewing will be held from 1-3 p.m., on Friday, Feb. 21, at Columbia Mortuary with funeral services to follow at 3 p.m. To send online condolences visit the website www.columbiamortuary.com. 

Columbia Mortuary in Columbia Falls is caring for the family.