Evalyn Allison

Evalyn (Ebbe) Allison, 90, passed away on March 27, 2015.

Evalyn (Ebbe) Carole was born July 28, 1924 in Conrad to Chauncey Edward and Eva DeFord Beebe. Ebbe was the youngest of the four children, and because Chance and Eva could not agree on the name each wanted for her, she was called “Ebbe” for “Baby” by her sister Vesta. She was never officially named until she needed a copy of her birth certificate to go with her husband to Guam during the Korean War.

Her father was a North Fork homesteader, early Glacier Park ranger at St. Mary’s before the Going-to-the-Sun Road was constructed. By the time Ebbe was born, he was the first government hunter for the Park Service.

Ebbe had many fond memories of growing up in small town Columbia Falls in the 1920s and 1930s, in a time before TVs, videogames and cell phones, when kids had to make their own fun.

She was fond of music and dancing and recalled that her brother Eddie would get the newest “hot tunes” on sheet music and play them on the piano. He also taught her the newest dance steps so she would be ready for the weekend dances.

In her family, card playing and cribbage was a favorite pastime, and she learned to play various games, especially pinochle. It was a life-long favorite for her. She liked to ice skate and roller skate and would participate in exhibitions for the city at various events.

In her teenage years, summers were spent swimming in the river and lakes. Jumping off the Old Red Bridge was a favorite stunt for her and her friends.

Ebbe attended Columbia Falls High School and played on the girls basketball team. She said they played “boys rules” and were a hard team to beat. She continued to have a lifelong love of sports.

She graduated in 1942. World War II was on, and she went with her sister Vesta and brother-in-law Clint Collenborne and some of her girlfriends to work in the “war effort” in Vancouver, Wash.

She became a welder for the Kaiser Shipyards, welding on new ships being built for the Navy. Coincidentally, she welded on the USS Guadalcanal, an aircraft carrier that her husband William (BiII) Allison would fly off of in the Atlantic Theater.

She married her husband Bill on Sept. 5, 1944. He was also from Columbia Falls, and they had dated in high school. Separated by Bill going to college and then the war, they revived their romance through letters.

Bill came cross-country on leave from Rhode Island, and they were married. She became a Navy wife. The squadron wives became a close group, as they traveled up and down the East Coast, following where their husbands’ ship put in, passing their time working for the Red Cross and playing cards.

After World War II, Bill went to college and Ebbe worked as a secretary for Dr. Palmer, a professor at Montana State College in Bozeman. Bill continued on to dental school at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., and Ebbe worked for an allergist in a large clinic in Omaha as a stenographer.

During those years, a neighbor lady in their apartment building taught Ebbe to knit. It became a life-long hobby, and she made many knitted items, including a baptismal gown that was worn by many of her grandchildren and great grandchildren at their baptisms and is still being passed around.

Sometime right after the war, Ebbe also worked in the Flathead for the unemployment office, helping returning veterans enter the job market. Ebbe loved those years and could take shorthand her whole life.

As Bill was completing his final year of dental school in 1951, they welcomed their first daughter, Valli Marie. The Korean War had started, and Bill was recalled to service, this time as a Navy dentist. They criss-crossed the U.S. as he was at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland and Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego and then the Naval base in Guam. During their time in Guam, Ebbe worked as a clerk in the Naval Supply Center. She said she often typed up to 6-8 carbon copies of documents on that job.

Returning from Guam to the Naval base at Alameda, Calif., they began exploring Northern California. Deciding to settle in Ukiah, Calif., Bill opened his first dental practice, Ebbe becoming his assistant, office manager and bookkeeper. Ebbe continued to manage Bill’s dental practice until he died in 1999. In addition, she worked for Dr. Bruce Allison in his medical practice for many years until he retired.

In 1956, Patrick and Michael, the twins, were born, followed by Matthew in 1958, Mary Alicia in 1959 and Bruce in 1961, the three little kids. In 1969, they decided to move home to Montana. They basically started over, with Bill starting a new practice. During those years, they bought a ranch/farm in the Deer Park area, and Ebbe resided there until very recently.

Following her husband in his faith, Ebbe became a Roman Catholic after their daughter Valli was born. She loved the Catholic faith and was very active in the church, both in California and in Montana. Her parish was St. Richard’s in Columbia Falls.

She belonged to the St. Cecilia’s Guild and formed many deep and lasting friendships with the ladies of that guild. Every summer, the ladies in this guild would take their grandchildren for a day picnic to Lake McDonald. Many of her grandchildren have such fond and fun memories of these picnics.

These ladies, along with the other guilds and members of the Altar Society/CCW, did many things for the church, including working each year to make their annual church bazaar a big success. She served on various parish councils and committees, worked in the parish office and was active on the diocesan level as well.

She was a very charitable person, donating time, talents and treasure, not just to her church but various community organizations. She was a founding member and volunteer of the East Valley Quick Response Unit and became an EMT. Discovering her love for emergency medical work, after her children were grown, she went to many calls in the Creston and Bad Rock area. She devoted much of her time and energy also to fundraising, training and procuring new and updated equipment for that unit.

She loved her family and her friends. She was very close to her sister Vesta Collenborne. As children, they did everything together and were best of friends throughout their lives, writing long weekly letters to each other, sharing their lives when they lived apart. One of her deepest griefs was losing her sister, only 52, to cancer in 1975.

Family gatherings at her home, whatever the occasion, were her happiest. She would say she “had all her chicks back home.” A houseful of her kids, the neighbor kids, grandkids, great grandkids, nieces and nephews was what she like best. In her later years, being the last of her generation, she kept all of her family connected by phoning, letters and e-mails.

At 90 years of age, she outlived her brothers and sister and their spouses. She was preceded in death by her husband Bill and her son Michael.

She is survived by her children Valli Marie and husband Owen Weaver, Patrick and wife Michelle, Matthew and wife Sarah, Mary Alicia and husband Mark Vanderveer, and Bruce and wife Tammi; grandchildren Richard Ray, Alicia Allison Chivers, Elisabeth Weaver Vandenbosch, Ryan Allison, Chauncey Allison, Josie Allison McCollum, Weston Allison, Travis Allison, Garrett Allison, AIm Marie McLean Soulette, Mark McLean, Matthew McLean and Luke Allison; 16 great grandchildren; grandchildren and great grandchildren through marriages; and many nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren.

She loved her faith, family and life dearly. A rosary and wake service will be held at St. Richard’s Catholic Church on Thursday, April 9, 2015, at 7 p.m. A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at St. Richard’s Catholic Church on Friday, April 10, 2015, at 10 a.m. The Rev. John Miller will officiate.

Graveside services and burial will be at Glacier Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Kalispell following the mass. A luncheon will follow at the St. Richard’s Catholic Church. Those not wishing to attend the graveside and burial may remain at the Parish Center for the luncheon.

In lieu of flowers, the family ask that donations be made to St. Richard ‘s Catholic Church, P.O. Box 2073, Columbia Falls MT 59912 or FACE c/o St. Matthew’s Catholic School , 602 South Main Street, Kalispell MT 59901 or Wings Regional Cancer Support, P.O. Box 7852, Kalispell MT 59904 or a charity of the donor’s choice in Ebbe’s memory.