Marie E. 'Terry' Reber

MISSOULA — Marie E. "Terry" Reber, 85, died gently in her sleep Sunday, Nov. 5, 2006, at the home of her daughter in Missoula.

Terry was born in Billings on Feb. 18, 1921, and raised until the age of 11 in the mining camps of Mammoth and Red Lodge by her beloved grandmother "Mummu" Macki. At age 11 she moved to Butte to live with her mother and father, Edith and Casper "Cap" Tauriainen. She obtained the "nickname" Terry from her future husband. He could not pronounce her Finnish name, so he shortened it to Terry, and it stuck.

Terry married Joe Reber in 1938. They were divorced in 1971. They had five children, 13 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She is survived by Joseph E. Reber of Marina Del Ray, Calif.; Bobbie Corette of Bigfork and her two children, Lorrie Campbell of Butte and great-grandchildren Ian and Emily, and Christine (Steve) Noyd of Missoula and great-grandson Reed; Dianna (Larry) Riley of Missoula and their five children, Shannon of St. Ignatius, Molly (Van) Blakely and great-grandchildren Emma and Sally, Christine Riley of Eugene Ore., Michael (Tammy) of New York and great-grandson Patrick and Jordan Riley and his fiancee Porsche Gregory and great-grandchildren Ariel, Land and Meadow; Bryant (Nome) Reber of Boulder, Colo., and their four children, Pate of Denver, Sarah Reber (Ben Denkla) of Los Angeles, Zach of Sacramento, Calif., and Emily of Denver; and Susie (Thomas) Orr of Missoula and their two children, Sam and Katie.

In her day, Terry was "the hostess with the mostest." She was the chairperson of several charity "balls" in Helena and could throw together a party on a moment's notice.

But mostly what she loved was being with her grandchildren. She loved watching Lorrie, Chris, Shannon and Molly perform "Bang Shang a Lang" in the Nehru jackets she sewed for them.

Had she been born in another age, she might have become an architect. She had a knack for drawing building plans. She would rather fix lunch for her workers than do anything else, and she looked forward to the end of the work day when she could give her fellas a cold beer and just laugh with them.

She oversaw the building of her "compound" at Flathead Lake, four homes on Finley Point.

The best times of all of our lives with her were there. She had a special stage built so the grandkids could "perform" when they were younger, and we would gather around the player piano and she would sing "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" at the top of her voice. A recent birthday card from son Bryant sums up her life well: "Thank you for being our mom … You have always been so sweet and kind and we have been so lucky as a result." Son Joe remembers that "Mom could always find the four-leaf clover in any patch of grass."

Our family would like to thank Jerri Matten for the kind and gentle care she gave our mother in the last few months of her life. Jerri was so loving and treated Mom with such dignity; we were blessed to have her there.

We also thank Tanya Williams and Hospice of Missoula who cared for Mom during her last months in daughter Dianna's home. It was a wonderful gift to visit her there, and know she was so comfortable and happy.

Mom always referred to God as "the Man Upstairs" so we ask Him to hold her gently in His care.

A celebration of her life will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at Sunset Memorial Funeral Home in Missoula.

Memorial contributions in Terry's name may be sent to Hospice of Missoula or the Watson Children's Shelter.