Marie Mayo

On Dec. 9th, 2017, Marie Mayo passed away in the comfort of her trusty reading chair in her beloved home at 501 E Missoula, Belgrade, MT. Marie lived an active life right up to her passing. In fact, the day before she died, Marie and two very close friends drove to White Sulphur Springs and enjoyed swimming in the hot springs. On the way home, they stopped at a restaurant and had a wonderful dinner.

Then she and one of the friends stayed up until midnight watching a movie. She had a lust for life. She will be best remembered by family and friends for her laughter, joking spirit, generosity, and love for all.

Marie was born on November 29th, 1926 in Stamford, CT. Her mother passed when Marie was only 3 years old. She had 6 siblings. She was always very close to her brothers and sister even though she left CT at the age of 16. She and a friend ventured to AZ in search of warmer weather. They were supposed to have guaranteed jobs with the phone company when they arrived, but somehow that didn’t work out. Marie found work at the Diamond W Dude Ranch in Tucson, AZ working for a woman named Julia Bennett. Julia also owned the Diamond J Ranch in Ennis, Montana. During the winter months, the hands would work the ranch in Tucson and during the summer they would move their operations to Ennis. Working one summer in Ennis, Marie met Jack Mayo, a wrangler, at the Diamond J. Love ensued and they got married. They moved to Stamford, CT for a short while where Jack Jr. and Richard were born. They then moved to Colton, CA for 3 years before purchasing their first home in Highland, CA. That’s where their 3rd son, George, was born. In 1964, they moved to Silver Star, MT where they had a dairy farm. In 1969, they leased out the farm and moved to Texarkana, TX where they helped one of Jack’s brothers who needed assistance running his business. During that time, Marie went to school and became a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Finally, they moved back to MT in 1971. Life was pretty good. Marie worked as a nurse at the rest homes in Sheridan and Dillon. Rich and Jack were going to college at MSU. Jack Jr. dropped out of college to pursue a job in WY, where he lost his life in a train accident. That was devastating to Jack Sr. and Marie. They drifted apart from each other and eventually divorced. Marie moved to Bozeman where she met her new best friends. She always said she didn’t like hanging out with “Old People.” Her circle of friends were typically 20-30 years younger than she was. She cherished those friends and met with them monthly for a “Ladies Night.” Her most recent one was Tuesday before she passed.

Marie’s biggest joys in life were her granddaughters: Alexis, Claire and Melissa. She had a wonderful relationship with all of them. They were like the daughters she never had. They spent countless hours, days, months and years together. Their connection was one of the things that kept Marie young at heart. Fifteen years ago, she was blessed to have a wonderful step-grandson, Norven Mahlum (Tana’s son).

Marie is preceded in death by her husband Jack Sr. and son Jack Jr. She is survived by sons Richard (Tana) Mayo of Belgrade, MT and George (Danita) Mayo of Snohomish, WA; brother Arthur Bates of NC; sister Florence Koproski (Skip) Putney, VT; granddaughters Melissa Mayo of Bozeman, MT, Claire Mayo of Thibodaux, LA, and Alexis Belcher (Chris) of Lake Stevens, WA.

Marie said “no crying”. She lived a long, healthy, and happy life. Memorials can be sent to Belgrade Library in memory of Marie Mayo. There will be a celebration of Marie’s life at the Dahl Funeral and Cremation Tribute Center on Highland Blvd in Bozeman at 11:00 am on Friday Dec. 15th, 2017. All are also invited to attend a gathering and viewing on Thursday Dec. 14th from 5pm – 7pm at the same location. She requests guests wear purple clothing of some sort.