Beatrice Mae Blessum

Beatrice Mae Blessum, 86, of Great Falls and most recently Bozeman, passed away on Thursday morning, January 7th, 2016. A memorial service will be held at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Great Falls at a later date.



Bea was born June 6th, 1929, in Edmore North Dakota to Palmer and Clara (Askelson) Malmin. As a young energetic girl, she helped her father in their creamery and made sure he was well taken care of. Bea’s mother passed away during childbirth when she was six years old. Her father and aunts, while living in Edmore and going to school, raised her. Later, she attended Wahpeton School of Science and earned an associates degree in teaching.



While attending Wahpeton, she fell in love with her sweetheart Gordie Blessum. They were married in Grand Forks, N.D. on June 6th, 1949. They made their home in Great Falls, MT where they lived for over 60 years.



She worked for Avon for 18 years both in sales and as a regional manager. Later, she became a teacher’s assistant at Paris Gibson Middle School and worked at this rewarding job for 10 years. She had an excellent voice and sang in the Big Sky Sweet Adeline’s, performing in many competitions.



Bea’s greatest joys in life were singing, Air Stream trips and visiting relatives and friends throughout the Northwest and Midwest. Bea loved visiting the relatives and sharing stories. She knew everyone! She loved her children, grandchildren and great grand children very much. But most of all, she loved being with her best friend and companion, Gordie. Bea was very famous for making cinnamon rolls for the family and, as a prayer warrior, she would pray every night for her family and Gordie.



She was preceded in death by her husband Gordon, who passed away just 29 days earlier on December 9, 2015, additionally she was preceded in death by her son John Christopher Blessum; sister Lois Virden and brother Palmer “Sonny” Malmin.



Survivors include her four children Paulette Blessum of Great Falls, MT, Kate (Doug) Trost of Lakeside, MT, Jeff (Jennifer) Blessum of Bozeman, MT and Julie (Erika Larson) Blessum of Issaquah, WA; 6 grandchildren; 8 great grandchildren and a brother Jerome Malmin of Kalispell, MT.





Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.dahlcares.com.