Sarah Matoon

Sarah Elizabeth Betty Wilcox Matoon, 86, of Great Falls, a retired Executive Assistant of the Commander of the 26th Air Division, Air Force Civil Service, died Wednesday, November 14, 2012, in her Great Falls home of natural causes.A funeral liturgy will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 24, 2012 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church (formerly St. Lukes). Burial will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Schnider Funeral Home is handling arrangements.Sarah Elizabeth Betty Wilcox Matoon was born on May 29, 1926 in Chinook, Montana. She was the seventh of eight children born to Arthur L. and Rose M. Wilcox. Her family included Cora (Musgrove), Herbert (Wilcox), Minerva (Nace), twins Ellsworth and Arthur Jr., Eunice Cramer, and Avis Jamieson. They all grew up in Chinook, and graduated from Chinook High School, married and raised their families in that area. After graduation from high school, she accepted a job as secretary to the manager of Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, which was the beginning of her long career in the field of administration. She worked for Burgess Insurance and Pearsons Texaco in Chinook during which there were interim trips to Connecticut during WWII to work and be with her paternal family.She married Edward Matoon in 1948, in Chinook and celebrated 55 years of marriage. They loved to travel, making a trip to Europe, and vacationing in Canada and the United States. They moved to Great Falls in 1959 at which time Betty started her career with the United States Air Force. After 23 years she retired as Executive Assistant to the Commander of the 26th Air Division. She loved her job and said, It was so interesting that I would have done it for nothing if I could have afforded it.Betty was an active member of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, formerly St. Lukes, where she served as lector, and volunteered at Benefis Hospital for many years visiting patients, bringing comfort, prayer, and companionship to them and their families.She is survived by her husband to be Colonel (Ret.) Jack Aasen; her best friends; sister Avis Jamieson; niece Duan Drugge; children Ginny Geehan and husband Pat; Richard Matoon and wife Mary; Ken Matoon and wife Debbie; grandchildren Hallie, Larkin (Tanya), Andy, Willow, Nadia, Sarah, and Libbie; great-grandchildren Davona, Arielle, Aislin, and Aaliyah; many wonderful nieces, nephews, and numerous dear friends.She was preceded in death by her husband Edward; her parents; siblings and their spouses Cora and Robert Musgrove, Minerva and Ralph Nace, Ellsworth and Neva Wilcox, Arthur Wilcox, Eunice and Robert Cramer, and Don Jamieson.