Laverne Lindsay

Laverne C. Cissy (Logsdon) Lindsay, 80, of Great Falls, died of natural causes Tuesday, March 20, 2012, at the home of her daughter, Elizabeth, in Great Falls. She slipped away peacefully surrounded by her family and went home to her Lord.A funeral liturgy will be held in mid-June, 2012.Cremation has taken place and Schnider Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.Laverne was born May 25, 1931, in Great Falls to Cecil Logsdon and Julia Kurki. Her parents separated when she was 2 years old and she spent most of her earliest years in Sand Coulee with her grandparents, Jacob and Amanda Kurki. She was educated in Great Falls, graduating in 1949 from Great Falls High School. She attended the College of Education (now UGF) where she met her husband, John A. Jack Lindsay. They were married June 2, 1951, at St. Ann's Cathedral in Great Falls. Laverne was very proud of her conversion to Catholicism.Jack and Laverne moved to New York where Jack pursued his masters degree and Laverne worked for Sax 5th Ave., a job she loved and talked about even during the last week of her life. They both must have had some Gypsy blood because they moved often, at first between Montana and New York, then between Montana and California and a stop in St. Louis, MO.As a stay-at-home Mom, Laverne was known for her skills in the kitchen. Teachers at Watsonville High School, where Jack taught, instinctively knew which days to drop by after school. She considered recipes to be suggestions to be improved upon, and she usually did. Breads, cakes, pies, etc. were always reinvented a few times before she was happy with the final result. Her latest creation was a rum cake. She shared her attempts with Elizabeth's office family at H & R Block.She returned to the work place in 1962 and worked for Ford's Department Store, Gallo Wines in Watsonville, CA and St. Louis, MO, and A. O. Smith Water Heaters in Newark, Sacramento and Los Angeles, CA from which she retired in 1998. Upon retirement she moved to Sparks, NV to be closer to grandchildren and resume her baking creativity. In 2006 she moved to Montana living with Elizabeth and Cliff. She loved reacquainting with family and old friends.She is survived by her six children; sons John A. (Jodie) Lindsay III, and Brian M. (Julie) Lindsay, both of Sparks, NV; daughters Elizabeth (Cliff) Reichelt, and Jennifer Rowe both of Great Falls, Catherine (Duke) Depew of Olathe KS, and Maureen (Ron) Biela of Newark CA; grandchildren John A. Lindsay IV, Matthew and Sean Lindsay, all of Sparks, NV., Maury (Beth) Reichelt of Carson City, NV, Amanda (Aaron) Mercier, Martha (Luke) Olson, both of Spokane, WA, Elizabeth (Kory) Adams and Caroline Rowe of Great Falls, MT, Michael, Steven and Sara Biela of Newark, CA; eight great- grandchildren; her brother, Joel McVey of Newark, CA;sister Loretta Britton of Great Falls; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins including Blanche Neels, Judy Alzheimer, and Albert Reeves all of Great Falls.Laverne was preceded in death by her husband, John A. Jack Lindsay; her parents, Cecil Logsdon and Julia McVey; her step-father, Ralph McVey; sister Estelle Bartlett and son-in-law David Rowe.Memorials suggested to Intermountain Children's Home, 500 S. Lamborn St., Helena, MT59601, Peace Hospice, 1101 26th Str. So., Great Falls, MT59405, or charity of the donor's choice.Condolences may be left for the family at www.schniderfuneralhome.com.