Joan Evelyn Gliko-Gondeiro

Joan Evelyn Gliko-Gondeiro passed away on October 24, 2017 of natural causes at the age of 78 in Great Falls. A vigil service will be held at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Belt at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 29, 2017. Funeral liturgy will also be held at St. Mark’s at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, October 30, 2017. Burial will follow at the Gondeiro Ranch at Kibbey Canyon Road. Joan was born on December 27, 1938 in Great Falls, Montana. She resided in the Little Belts, nestled beneath the Highwood Mountains. Joan was the oldest of four children born to Rose (Marn) Gliko and John Gliko. Her early years were spent at the Gliko Ranch where she was her father’s helper; fencing, picking rock, shocking grain, and pulling up the over-shot stacker with a team. Many winters she rode on a sleigh full of hay pulled with a team to the Nelson (one room) Country School, which she attended for 8 years. She attended Belt Valley High School. After high school, Joan became a legal secretary for Hall, Alexander and Kuenning in Great Falls and became obsessed with law. Joan was active in 4-H for ten years, became a fluent seamstress, making most of her children’s clothing, school and prom dresses, western suit jackets for the boys, as well as her own clothes. 4-H also helped her to teach her children cooking and sewing.Joan took classical piano lessons for ten years, accompanying her high school friends for adjudications and later played duets with her own children for recitals. She also enjoyed accompanying her father on his violin. In the spring of 1956, she met the love of her life, Dick Gondeiro, going on a blind date to her Junior Prom. They were married in Belt, Montana on October 25, 1958 and lived in Walthum, Montana for several years. They then purchased a ranch at Raynesford Kibbey Canyon. It was there that Joan worked diligently as a homemaker and mother of seven. She was dedicated to her family, the ranch, and especially her Savior and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rosary was her constant companion and support. Joan was her husband’s companion in the hay field, raking, square baling, and duck footing with the International 4WD. She loved calving season. Her main enjoyment was planting her garden and seeing the bounty from it. She dwelled in her flower beds and loved working in her yard.She loved crochet and made many things for her daughters and granddaughters. Joan was devoted to her Catholic Church in Raynesford where she loved playing the organ for over 30 years. She nurtured her family of seven and preferred outdoor activities of camping and fishing with them. She loved going to all of her children’s and grandchildren’s athletic sports activities. Joan was a mentor, confidant, and a friend to her family. Later in life, she and Dick enjoyed boating and fishing at their cabin at Fort Peck Lake. Her Kibbey Canyon home in Raynesford was often full of hunters, family and friends during hunting season. Dick and Joan would have celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary on October 25, 2017. In addition to her husband Dick, she is remembered by her seven children, sons Richard Jr. (Kate) of Stanford, Ronald Gondeiro (Jennifer) of Raynesford, Rodney Gondeiro (Doreen) of Sun Prairie, and Rory Gondeiro (Laura) of Stanford; daughters DeAnn Snider Westlock (Russell) of AB, Canada, Doreen Gondeiro and Darla Key both of Great Falls; sisters Janet Neumiller (Ken) of Helena and Joyce Kessler (Gordie) of Arizona; and brother John E. Gliko of Belt. She enjoyed and loved all of her 19 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. Joan was preceded in death by her parents, John and Rose (Marn) Gliko of Belt; grandparents John and Anna (Yaklevich) Marn of Belt, Johanna (Legan) and John Gliko of Belt and Great Falls; and nephew Dustin Gliko of Belt. Memorials in Joan’s name may be made to the Raynesford Altar Society, Raynesford, MT59469.