Maxine Lautaret

Maxine A. Lautaret, 89, of Kalispell, "went to be with the Lord" on Oct. 31, 2008.

Maxine was born Jan. 7, 1919, the first of 10 children, to Mack and Georgia (Davis) Greenwood on a farm near Hugoton, Kan.

In 1937, Maxine completed requirements for high school graduation in Canon City, Colo., a month early so that she and Laurence Lautaret could be married on April 18, "Apple Blossom Sunday," in Florence, Colo.

In 1942, the family moved to Portland, where both Laurence and Maxine worked making Liberty ships during World War II. They also built a small house each year while there and were able to leave Portland with a sufficient nest egg to purchase a ranch in Colorado, where they lived for a year.

In November 1946, the family moved to the Flathead Valley, where they bought and lived in the oldest log cabin in the valley.

About this time Maxine rededicated her life to the Lord, and Laurence was converted through the fledgling Church of God congregation in the home of founding pastor Charles and Nadine Bolin. Maxine taught Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and Pioneer Girls, sang in the choir, and was the Montana Women of the Church of God state president.

Maxine was a homemaker, and was office manager for Valley Sand and Gravel, which she and Laurence owned and operated in Kalispell until 1963, when they sold the business to McElroy & Wilken Ready Mix.

They then moved to Kodiak, Alaska, to serve as pastors of the Church of God there. They subsequently were pastors in Anchorage and Palmer, Alaska, in addition to helping build and manage Camp Challenge. They also served as pastors in Eureka, Missoula, and Bozeman, as well as Canon City.

In the 1970s, they drove from Alaska to the southern tip of South America via the Pan American Highway in a pickup and camper, unheard of in those days. Missions trips and projects included time in Mexico, Guatemala, the Philippines, Thailand, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Uruguay and South Africa. Avid travelers, they visited Taipei, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Holland.

In 1987, Laurence and Maxine moved back to Kalispell to help their son Larry and wife Rena plant Whitefish Community Church of God, where Maxine was always the first to help with anything that needed to be done.

Maxine was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; sisters Ellen Marie Greenwood and Lorine Lautaret; brothers Kenneth, Eldon and Myron Greenwood.

She is survived by sisters Cleora Nordyke, Vera Lowry and Loretta Cacciatore; brother Milton Greenwood and wife Kathy; sisters-in-law Joy Greenwood, Carole Greenwood and Sue Lautaret; daughter LaVonne Ertz, husband Ralph and their three children; daughter Carolyn Tulowitzky, husband Clyde and their three children; son Larry Lautaret, wife Rena and their four children; daughter Rita Stein, husband John and their two children; 12 great grandchildren; and dear friends and family around the world.

Viewing will take place Thursday, Nov. 6, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Buffalo Hill Funeral Home with internment at 3 p.m. at Glacier Memorial Gardens Cemetery, a dinner for family and friends at 4:30 p.m. at Whitefish Community Church of God, 5685 U.S. 93, Whitefish; and a celebration of life at Whitefish Community Church of God at 6 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the Maxine Lautaret Memorial Fund at Whitefish Community Church of God for South American Missions, or to a charity of choice, or an act of service can be done in Maxine's memory.