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Helen Mae Thompson Dayton |
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May 17, 1926 ~ December 12, 2016 |
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August 3, 2017 |
Helen Mae Thompson Dayton, born May 17, 1926, to
John B. and Bernice Thompson in Missoula,
Montana, passed away on December 12, 2016, at
the age of 90. A small graveside service will be
conducted at Grandview Cemetery, Bonners Ferry,
at 1 p.m. Saturday, August 5.
Helen Mae was one of three daughters and she
lived her beginning years at the Priest River
Experimental Forest Station from 1928 to 1937,
where her father was superintendent. It was
there that she developed her love of nature and
animals.
She remembered going to school in a one room
school house and living through the Great
Depression. The family then moved to Bonners
Ferry,
where she lived until she graduated high school.
Helen Mae was valedictorian of her 1944
graduating class from Bonners Ferry High School,
as well as a cheerleader and member of the band,
playing the clarinet.
After graduation, instead of attending college,
Helen Mae, along with her older sister Louise,
adventured to Honolulu, Hawaii, to work on
Hickam Field repacking parachutes as part of the
war effort. While there, she played in a jazz
band. She remembered how scary it was travelling
by boat to Hawaii with the Japanese army coming
to the Pacific.
On March 1, 1946, she eloped with her high
school sweetheart, Perry (Alan) Dayton. In
attendance at the ceremony were her parents.
They raised four children, moving frequently due
to Alan’s positions with the federal government.
Upon their retirement in 1977, they relocated to
Victor, Montana, in the beautiful Bitterroot
Valley.
There they built their dream house, which was
designed by Helen Mae. She had a lifelong
passion for architecture and home design. Once
there, she vowed that she would never move
again. She loved working on her house and being
outdoors.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Perry
A. Dayton, son Kip Dayton and grandson Michael
Minnerath. She is survived by her daughters,
Alice M. (Kenneth Minnerath) Laurel, Montana,
and Ann D. (Henry W Taylor, Jr.) West Palm
Beach, Forida, and her son Scott L. (Sandy
Wittman) Dayton, Hanover Park, Illinois. She is
also survived by her grandchildren Brett,
Andrea, Holly and Aaron Minnerath, Peter and
Christopher Dayton (Scott) and Travis and
Matthew Dayton (Kip), as well as 10 great
grandchildren, her sister Betty Henderson and
daughter-in-law Cheryl Hay.
Her family will greatly miss her independent
spirit and the love that she always showed all
of them. |
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