Irene Bjelland, 90

On Wednesday, April 24, 2019, Irene Bjelland, our loving mother, grandmother, great- and great-great-grandmother and aunt, passed over to be with her Lord and Savior. She was a resident at Heritage Place at the time.

Irene was born Nov. 8, 1928, on a farm outside Douglas, North Dakota, to Carl Cap Jensen and Carrie Nelsen Knutson. She was the youngest of seven brothers and two sisters, who all preceded her in death.

Mom graduated from beauty school in early 1946. She met Alf Bjelland and they were married June 1946. They had three children, David, Norman and Cecelia. They worked a farm in Douglas until they made a move to Kalispell in 1966.

She was a cook at Kila School for 32 years. She had so many (over 100) cookbooks that she would sit and look at trying to find to new recipes to fix for all the kids she loved being around.

Her main love was Jesus Christ and she was a faithful member of the New Life Center Church for many years. Besides her cookbooks and cooking she loved to crochet and made many beautiful things.

Irene was preceded in death by her husband Alf, her parents, siblings and daughter-in-law Jolene Bjelland, formerly of Kalispell.

She is survived by her children, David (Laura) Bjelland, Norman Bjelland of Kalispell, and Cecelia (Dan) Lane of Elizabethtown, Kentucky; seven grandchildren, Leif, Alf and Jason Bjelland, Sherri Martinez, Danny and Mark Lane, and Tonya Lowe;. 17 great-grandkids and five great-great-grandkids. She also leaves behind many nieces and nephews.

There will be a viewing from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, at Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home in Kalispell, followed by a graveside ceremony at Glacier Memorial Gardens at 1 p.m., with Pastor Howard presiding. There will be a luncheon following at the New Life Center, 221 S. Main St. Kalispell.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.