Services for Irene Elsie Eck
Irene Elsie Eck, 97, a long-time resident of Great Falls Montana passed away at Angel Wings Assisted Living in Albuquerque, NM on April 30, 2017. A memorial service conducted by Faith Lutheran Church will be held in Great Falls at the Columbus Chapel on 1601 2nd Avenue N on June 3 at 2:00pm.
Irene was born on February 11, 1920 in Gonvick, Minnesota, the daughter of Elsie and Peter Elleson and was raised with her five siblings, Mabel, Alvin, Willard, Naomi and Dorothy all of whom preceded her in death. She married her high school sweetheart, Lester Eck on September 21, 1940 and was married for 73 years before he passed away on May 1, 2014. They had four children -- David, Dennis, Dianne and Dwight before moving to Montana in 1948. Her husband’s career in the meat business brought moves to Opheim, Fort Peck, Wolf Point, Missoula and Butte before she and Les moved to the Buttrey Foods headquarters in Great Falls in 1968 where Les became the Vice President of Meat Operations.
Irene led a very active lifestyle and besides working briefly as a switchboard telephone operator in the 50s, she was an excellent homemaker-- cooking, canning and gardening with ease. She loved baseball, catching fish and was an avid card player earning a Life Master Certificate in duplicate bridge in 1996. She was highly involved in church activities such as quilting, bible study, visiting shut-ins and helping with soup suppers. Besides her activities at Faith Lutheran, she was an active volunteer well into her nineties and could be seen ringing the bells for the Salvation Army, delivering Meals on Wheels, making meatballs at the Sons of Norway and helping at the Senior Center. She and her husband, Les thoroughly enjoyed living in Great Falls and had many loyal and wonderful friends over the years. In January of 2015 she moved to Albuquerque and was well cared for by the loving staff of a small residential care home just blocks from her daughter, Dianne.
She is survived by her four children, David Eck of Alameda, CA, Dennis (Gretchen) Eck of Las Vegas, NV, Dianne (Roy) Moody of Albuquerque, NM and Dwight (Pam) Eck of Boise, ID: seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Community Outreach Fund at Faith Lutheran Church, 1601 2nd Ave N, Great Falls, MT, 59405.
