Ellen Clarke

Ellen Grace Clarke (Lynch), 89, of Vaughn, MT, a retired seamstress and homemaker, died of natural causes on Friday, December 14, 2012 at her son's home.A visitation will be held at Schnider Funeral Home on Friday, December 21, 2012 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Her funeral service will be held at Hillcrest Lawn Memorial Chapel on Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. Entombment will immediately follow at Hillcrest Lawn Mausoleum.Schnider Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.Ellen Grace Clarke (Lynch) was born on March 9, 1923 to Michael L. Lynch and Grace Smith in Belt, Montana. She was raised in Geyser and Raynesford. She attended school in Geyser. She quit school in the ninth grade to help her mom and dad.She married Philip Anderson in Great Falls in 1942 and they had five children. They were later divorced. In 1962, she married William Clarke in Couer d alene, Idaho and made their home in Vaughn.She along with her husband worked their custom combining during harvest for many years going as far south as Oklahoma. She cooked the meals, drove truck, and did anything that needed to be done. Many of the hired hands would join the crew mainly for Ellens cooking.William passed away in 1997.Ellen loved cooking for friends and family no matter the time of day or night. She also loved to sew and made custom drapes with her sister, Florence.Ellen wanted to give special thanks to her daughter-in-law, Sally, to allow Dale to stay home and take care of me.Ellen is survived by her daughter Roxy Haney (Mike) of Great Falls; sons Philip Anderson of Lincoln, Randy Anderson (Sue) of Great Falls, Dale Anderson (Sally) of Great Falls, and Michael Anderson of Vaughn; eight grandchildren; and fourteen great-grandchildren.She was preceded in death by her husbands, William Clarke and Philip Anderson.