- Date Of Birth: November 2, 1920
- Date Of Death: August 31, 2009
- State: Montana
Mary Elizabeth Sibley, 88, passed away on Aug. 31, 2009 at Brendan House in Kalispell. She was born on November 2, 1920 in Harlem, Montana, the daughter of Ross and Myrtle Sellers Smithson.
She grew up on a homestead near Hogeland, MT. In 1937, she moved with her family to a ranch in the Half Moon area near Columbia Falls. She graduated from high school in Columbia Falls and went on to college at Montana State Normal College in Dillon where she earned a teaching certificate. Her first teaching job was in Apgar, Montana. It was here that she met Bill Sibley. After their engagement, Bill served in the Army during World War II and Mary helped the war effort by painting military aircraft at Geiger Airfield in Spokane.
After the war, Mary and Bill were married at the Smithson Ranch near Columbia Falls.Their first home was a cabin Bill built in Apgar.
In 1948 they moved to Cheney, Washington. There they built a home and built and operated Sibley’s Cafe together. During this time, Mary went back to college at Eastern Washington State College and received a 4 year teaching degree in 1964.
In 1965, the Sibley family returned to the Flathead and settled near Lake Blaine. Mary taught at several rural schools over the next 15 years including Deer Park, Helena Flats, Kila, Marion, and Cayuse Prairie. She was active with the Mountain Brook Ladies Club for many years.
Mary was preceded in death by her husband Bill in 1998, brother Earl in 2003, granddaughter Eileen in 1987, and granddaughter Tina Rae in 1968.
She is survived by her daughter Marylyn Conachen and husband Ed of Spokane; sons Paul of Kalispell, Cal and wife Ginni of Kalispell, and Roger and wife Larisa of South Lake Tahoe, Ca.; sister Virginia of Santa Maria, Ca., as well as 7 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren.
