Melba Jean White (1926 - 2011)

Wife of James Alden Gunlikson — married 10 Dec 1944 in Shelby, Toole, Montana, USA

Died 1 Sep 2011 at age 84 in Lakewood, Washington, USA

Biography

This biography is a rough draft. It was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import and needs to be edited.

Name

Name: Melba Jean /White/

Name: Melba Jean /Gunlikson/^[1]

Name: Melba /(White)/^[2]

Name: Melba J /Gunlikson/^[3]

Found multiple versions of NAME. Using Melba Jean /White/.

Birth

Birth:

Date: 18 DEC 1926^[4]

Residence

Residence:

Date:

Place: Tacoma, WA^[5]

Note

Note: #N4941

Sources

• WikiTree profile White-7095 created through the import of JamesCharlesMcKague Genealogy_2011-10-13.ged on Oct 14, 2011 by Mary McKague. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Mary and others.

• Source: S301 Author: Ancestry.com Title: United States Obituary Collection Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2006; Repository: #R2
• Repository: R2 Name: www.ancestry.com Address: E-Mail Address: Phone Number:
• Source: S325 Author: Ancestry.com Title: U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 2 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2010; Repository: #R2 NOTEVoter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings
• Source: S361 Author: Ancestry.com Title: U.S. Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2011; Repository: #R2

Notes

Note N4941Written by MJ (Gunlikson) Thurston in an email to family:

The Adult Family Home, where we moved Mom on August 1st called me Friday, Aug 26th 7:15 AM and said that Mom wasn't herself and that she said that something was wrong. She asked Regina, the owner of the Home to call me. So I went over and said prayers for about 3- - 45 minutes until my sister, Judy joined me. Mom had labored breathing and stopped breathing from time to time. Her eyes were glazed and it was hard to understand her when she talked.

The night before she died, she was very loving and kept telling me how much she loved me, etc. I stayed and took a nap with her until 9 PM, it was really sweet and I really felt good about it. She told me how happy she was to live with me these last four years.

I went to the Week’s Dryer Mortuary, where Mom purchased prearrangement in 2004. Mom asked if I would. We will have a memorial service at their chapel on Saturday, Sept. 10th at 11:00 am with a reception at their lovely hall following the memorial service. Their address is 220 134th St. South, Tacoma, WA.

We will then transport her cremains to Shelby, MT, where we will have a funeral mass for her on Friday night Sept 16th with light refreshments to follow. We will have a burial at the Mountain View Cemetery in Shelby, MT where she will be buried with my dad. Her parents and Dad’s parents are buried in the same cemetery.

Her transition was slow but steady, with kidney failure and heart failure and not much anyone could do about it. She understood what was happening and was quite satisfied that what she wanted was happening. I visited her every day and am so glad I did.

My sister, Geni and husband, Mick came to visit her after Skip, my brother and his wife, Laurie and their entire family visited Mom for several days. Justin came down just the weekend before she died and Daria and Mike came the week before.

It took us two days of cleaning and moving her things out of the Family Home back to my house; she was there for exactly one month... from August 1st until September 1st.

I think we are doing okay, we alternately laugh and then cry. I know we are going to miss mom... what are we going to do with our time?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Published in Great Falls Tribune on September 14, 2011

Melba J. Gunlikson

LAKEWOOD, Wash. - Montana native and former Hi-Line resident Melba Jean (White) Gunlikson, 84, died of natural causes Thursday, Sept. 1, in Lakewood, WA.

A memorial service was held Saturday, September 10th at Week’s Dryer Mortuary in Tacoma, WA. Her funeral will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 16th at St. William Catholic Church in Shelby, followed by light refreshments. The burial will take place Sept. 17th at Mountain View Cemetery in Shelby. Melba will be buried with her husband Jim and her parents and Jim's parents are also buried there.

Melba was born Dec. 18, 1926, in Ferdig, Mont. She was the third of seven children of Francis and Hilda Lux White. Both of her parents were children of homestead families in Hill County, Mont., near Chinook.

Melba married Jim Gunlikson on Dec. 10, 1944, and they both graduated from Shelby High School in 1945. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Jim, who died in January 2009.

She is survived by her four children, Judy Swortz (Paul) of Lakewood, Wash., Geni Laden (Mick) of Cut Bank, Mont., MJ Thurston (Jeff) of Lakewood and Skip (Laurie) of Mesa, Ariz.; along with 10 grandsons and one granddaughter; and 14 great grandchildren.

Melba’s primary interest in life was her family. She made sure her four children were always presentable and expected them to work hard, both in school and at home. She worked for various Shelby businesses, such as Ray Woldvedt, Accounting, and the Shelby Clinic for Dr. Stanchfield until her retirement. She and Jim moved from Montana to Washington in 1990.

Melba grew up under difficult circumstances during the 1930s and 1940s. Her mother, Hilda, died when Melba was 9 years old and she lived with various family members until she got married. She was an ambitious, proud woman who blessed those around her with her great will. She motivated people to do their best in life and she was our example to achieve in all areas of our lives.

Cards or memorials may be mailed to Geni Laden, 118 4th St. S.W., Cut Bank, MT 59427.

1. ↑ Source: #S361 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for James Alden Gunlikson
2. ↑ Source: #S301 Page: Database online. Newspaper: News Tribune; Publication Date: 1 2 2009; Publication Place: Tacoma , WA , USA. Data: Text: Record for James A. Gunlikson
3. ↑ Source: #S325 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Melba J Gunlikson
4. ↑ Source: #S325 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Melba J Gunlikson
5. ↑ Source: #S325 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Melba J Gunlikson