Mary Louise De Pue

Former longtime Flathead Valley resident Mary Louise De Pue, 93, died Sunday, April 17 in Kalispell, surrounded by loving family.

Mary was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1922, and moved west in 1952 with her husband, Don, and three oldest children Jerry, Mike, and Jean. The family settled in Whitefish for several years, but later followed Don’s woods work to Lincoln and Missoula before a return to Whitefish in 1968, this time with younger daughters Joanne and Toni. Mary and Don worked side by side to establish DePue Excavating and to build their home on State Park Road. On weekends, they packed the girls in the pickup and set out for one of the area lakes — Dollar, Woods, Beaver, Murray, Timber, or another — or took Sunday drives throughout the valley, up north into Canada or anywhere a person might be apt to find a good piece of pie or weekend smorgasbord.

A cancer diagnosis for Don in the early 1970s required Mary to join the workforce, first as a sales clerk at Village Square Gifts in Whitefish for employers Don and Lois Jensen, who graciously gave Mary her first job and subsequently became dear friends, and later, following the loss of husband Don to cancer in 1978, at retail stores in Kalispell, including the gift shop at Glacier International Airport and the Salvation Army thrift store. After living and working in Kalispell for more than two decades and upon her retirement at age 80, Mary moved to Libby (2002), where she enjoyed the quiet pace of life, the friendly people, and the beautiful scenery of the Libby area.

Mary’s family is grateful to the staff and aides of the Libby Care Center and of Edgewood Vista and Frontier Hospice of Kalispell who showed tremendous concern, compassion, and tenderness toward Mary in her end-of-life care.

Mary is survived by sons Jerry (Marie) of Bonners Ferry and Mike (Diane) of Libby; and by daughters Jean De Pue Paschke (Dan) of Kalispell, Joanne of Seattle, and Toni, of Libby, as well as numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life at Libby’s Riverfront Pavilion is set for Sunday, July 24 at 2 p.m. All who knew Mary are welcome to attend. A private interment at Glacier Memorial Cemetery on the date of her 76th wedding anniversary will reunite her with husband Don, to whom she remained forever devoted.

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