Elaine Mendel

HELENA-On July 20, Elaine Mendel passed peacefully surrounded by her family.

The family will receive friends at 5 p.m., on Monday, July 31, at the Kirkwood Memorial Chapel. A memorial service to celebrate Elaine's life will be held at the Kirkwood Funeral Home in Malta, MT on Tuesday, August 1 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Little White Church in Malta (Box 459 Malta MT 59538), the Shriners Hospital for Children (911 W 5th Ave Spokane WA 99204 or a charity of the donor's choice.) Condolences for the family may be left at http://www.kirkwoodfuneralhome.com.

Born to Lyman and Esther Parsons on August 13, 1931, she was raised in Harlowton, Mont. She graduated from Eastern Montana College with a degree in Elementary Education teaching first in Lewistown and then in Helena. There she met the love of her life, Gene Mendel, when she was out bowling with friends. They married on December 28, 1954.

After working for two years in Helena, the young couple moved to Malta in March of 1956. Elaine taught first grade in Malta and helped Gene with the bookwork for the county airport that he managed. In 1968 they moved to Great Falls, living and working for five years. Elaine and Gene returned to Malta in 1973, when they purchased the Maltana Motel. The motel was something Elaine took great pride in and she was proud of the reputation it had for cleanliness and being a quiet place to rest. It was also a place where she and Gene taught their daughters the finer points of being in business and excellent customer service.

In 2004, Elaine and Gene sold the motel and began their retirement. In 2014, they decided to return to Helena where they had begun their life together. Moving into Touchmark they were warmly welcomed and soon felt very at home, making new friends as well as connecting with old ones. Elaine was a voracious reader, loved to knit and crochet, was an excellent cook, loved to attend athletic events that her daughters or grandchildren were involved in (and could be quite vocal), looked forward to the many thousands of hands of bridge she played and was very proud of her five daughters.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Lyman and Esther, and her sister, Doris Weisner.

Elaine is survived by her loving husband of 62 years, Gene; her five daughters: Donna Hislop (Bob), Susan Davila, Alice Combs, Janet Tatarka (Paul) and Linda Krantz (Ken), ten grandchildren: Cali Hislop, Brady Hislop, James Patrick Graham, Emily Combs, Zachery Combs, Ethan Tatarka, Kathleen Tatarka, Matthew Krantz, Taelyr Krantz, Madison Krantz and two great grandchildren: Reece Graham and Kyndall Graham, her brother Jim Parsons and many nieces and nephews.