Darlene Ramsbacher

It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and friend, Darlene Marie (Brenden) Ramsbacher. She passed away at St. Patrick Hospital, in Missoula, Mont., on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, at the age of 77.

A celebration of life will be held this summer in Polson, Mont.

She was born in Nashua, Mont., on Feb. 13, 1942. She graduated from Nashua High School, class of 1960.

Darlene married Clifford “John” Ramsbacher on Oct. 29, 1960, at the Church of the Queen of Angels in Nashua; they were married 59 years. They made their home in Fort Peck, Mont., where they raised their three sons, Randall (Jodi), of Albuquerque, N.M., Ronald (Valarie) Ramsbacher, of Missoula, and John (Robert), of San Francisco, Calif. She has four grandchildren, Dustin (Albuquerque), Mari (Albuquerque), Sarah (Phoenix), and Sean (Butte).

Darlene loved living on the Park Grove Dredge Cuts in Fort Peck being able to call the lake her backyard. In 2011, Darlene and John moved to Polson, where she could still have a lake in her backyard and be closer to family. They spent winters in Yuma, Ariz., from 2002 to 2017 and spent the last couple of winters in Missoula.

Darlene was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother who loved to cook and bake and kept the numerous guests fed when they came to visit at the lake. She taught her kids how to roller skate at the Nashua Community Center and bowl at Vick’s Lanes every Sunday during the winter months and to waterski during the summer months. She loved playing cards whenever possible, although a little competitive.

Darlene operated the Fort Peck Credit Union for several years before entering a career with the Federal government and eventually retired from the US Army Corp of Engineers in Fort Peck.

She was predeceased by her parents, John and Esther Brenden; her brother Dick Brenden and sister Jeanette Forest.

She is survived by two sisters, Betty Isch Trueblood, of Kalispell, Mont., and Susan Vertz, of Tucson, Ariz .; and one brother, Gary Brenden, of Leesburg, Fla.

Condolences may be shared with the family by visiting Gardencityfh.com. Arrangements under the care of Garden City Funeral Home, Missoula.

In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to the Ramsbacher Scholarship Fund in memory of her at the University of Montana (www.supportum.org or P.O. Box 7159, Missoula, MT 59807).