This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Evans Gallagher Gilruth Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/INB.2ACE/1413 Message Board Post: JESSE CLEM EVANS Libby, Montana - Jesse Clem Evans, 88, entered into final rest on Monday, October 6, 2003. Jesse was born in Charlo, Montana, on April 12, 1915, to Jesse Rhodes and Lila Clem Evans. He was raised in a large family that farmed near the National Bison Range in the Dixon/Moiese area in Montana. He attended the Charlo Public School system and was a loyal school reunion attendee through his final summer of July 2003. On December 6, 1936, Jess married a unique and special person (our mother) Mary Ellen Gallagher, and they worked as share-croppers for a short time before moving to Seattle, WA, where Jess worked as a carpenter and then in the shipyards in woodworking during WWII. In 1948, Jess and Mary moved to Naches, Washington, with their two children Marlene and Stan. Jess assumed the business opportunities of his grandfather's cabinet shop and worked for many years there as a contractor/carpenter in the housing industry. Job opportunities took Jesse and Mary to both Kennewick, Washington, and Salem, Oregon, for short periods of time before their retirements to Shelton, WA in 1976! There they lived a casual, but fun-filled life, until Mary's death in 1987. Jess retained his home in Shelton as numerous family members were property owners in Cedar Grove Country Club of which he was an active member. Jess lived the life of a bachelor wintering in Arizona for several years before marrying his childhood friend, Margaret MacKenzie Wamsley in 1992. Escaping the northern winters became their passion, and they established a winter residence in the Yuma, Arizona, and motorhomed back and forth through the "03" season. Jess was preceded in death in August 2003 by his wife, Margaret, who had suffered a stroke, and his sister, Ada, and brothers Bill, Clarence, and Ray. He is survived by his daughter, Marlene Cordano and her husband, Bill, of Portland; his son, Stan Evans and his wife, Patty, of Libby, MT; four grandchildren and four great grandchildren; his sisters Emma Roberts, Eva Bauer, Lila Fay Krantz and Inez Freshour Pound, all of the Flathead Valley and Ella Gilchrist of Kennewick, WA. Jess was a long-time member of the Volunteer Fire department and Rodeo Club in Naches, Washington. He was a 32-year member of the Elks Lodge. He loved horses, family gatherings, and life on the road. He was the type of guy that always "showed up". He made a difference in many lives by simply being who he was. Memorial services will be held on Saturday, November 8, at 11 am at the United Methodist Church in Charlo, MT. A celebration luncheon will follow at the Senior Citizens Center in Charlo. The following weekend on November 15th, Family Graveside services will be held at 11:30 am in Shelton, Washington, and a Celebration of Life will commence from 2-6 on Saturday in Shelton, at the residence of Jess, located at 1170 East Daniels Road. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in the name of the D'Aste Historical Society, Box 56, in Charlo, MT 59824.