Betty Ann LeDuc

Betty Ann LeDuc, 86, passed away in Kalispell Monday, May 31, 2010 to be with her Lord and deceased family and friends. She was born March 1, 1924 in Devils Lake, N.D. to George and Josephine Holgerson.

Betty Ann graduated from Central High School in Devils Lake where she was a Homecoming Queen and an honor student. She met and married her soulmate and love of her life, Robert LeDuc, in Seattle in 1942.

Bob and Betty Ann moved to Seattle during "the War," where she worked for Boeing Aircraft as a clerical employee, while Bob was an Army engineer. While in Seattle, she gave birth to their first son, Trent, in 1945.

They returned to North Dakota after World War II and then moved to Montana in 1951. Betty Ann and Bob owned and operated several small businesses: the Kalispell Bar, a vending machine business and the Golden Wheels Mobil Home and RV Center, to name a few. In 1954, Betty Ann gave birth to their second child, Scott.

Betty Ann raised a beautiful, loving family and enjoyed the community and outdoors that Montana had to offer. She was the perfect mother, always performing her maternal instincts with love, adoration, kindness, comfort and guidance. Over the many years of child rearing, one was always sure that Betty Ann was watching over her two sons, husband and mother Josephine, who lived with the family.

When not with the family, she enjoyed spending time with Bob dancing up a storm to big band ballroom music. Dancing from North Dakota to Seattle, they would frequent dance halls and dance the night away to swing and jitterbug. She loved jazz and was a proud member of the local Jazz Society and especially liked the Arnie Carruthers Band and the Don Lawrence Orchestra.

Betty Ann was a proud member of the Elks Club, and she and Bob operated the Elks Resort on Flathead Lake from 1967 to 1970. She enjoyed traveling the country and abroad via planes, trains, boats and cruise ships to near and far away places.

She was an elegant, beautiful lady with class and style. She was recruited by local dress shops and department stores (the KM and Anderson's Style Shop) when in the '60s and '70s, they would put on fashion shows at the Elks Club, hotels and convention centers.

Betty Ann also enjoyed fishing and cruising on Flathead Lake, as well as the Lake Blaine gathering cabin owned by Bob's sister, Donna. Countless family outings were enjoyed by all the aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Above all, Betty Ann possessed the gift of love and happiness that she bestowed on all the lives she touched. She will be dearly missed but fondly remembered by all who met or knew her.

She is preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Gordon and Donald, and one sister, Leona.

She is survived by her husband Robert "Bob" LeDuc; two sons, Trent LeDuc and wife Sheila, and Scott LeDuc and wife Joyce, all of Kalispell; five grandchildren, Ryan LeDuc and wife Kathy, Tye LeDuc and wife Jessica, Angela LeDuc, Kyle LeDuc and Paige LeDuc, all of Kalispell; and numerous great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held for Betty Ann Friday June 4, 2010 at 10 a.m. at Risen Christ Catholic Church, followed by burial at Glacier Memorial Gardens. A reception will follow burial at the church.

Visitation will be Thursday June 3, 2010 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. with a Rosary to follow at 7 p.m. at Johnson Gloschat Funeral Home. The family suggests memorials be given in Betty Ann's name to Religious Retirement, C/O Risen Christ Church, 65 W. Evergreen Drive, Kalispell, MT 59901.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home is caring for Betty Ann's family. You are invited to go to www.jgfuneralhome.com to offer condolences and view Betty Ann's tribute wall.