Margret Anna McKelvey Cole

October 9, 1910 - October 19, 2012

            Margret Anna McKelvey Cole joined her sisters in heaven last Friday just in time to finish the last chorus of “Redwing,” a favorite song their mother taught them and they taught their children and grandchildren. She then danced to the “Tennessee Waltz” with her husband.
            The McKelvey girls were raised on the Rocking Chair Ranch near Ashland; however, Margret was born in Adair, Iowa, the home of her maternal grandmother, because the medical facilities were better there. Margret died Oct. 19, ten days after her  102nd birthday, at Eagle Cliff Manor where she was a resident for less than five months.
            The oldest of Jud and Kathron O’Hannon McKelvey’s three daughters, Margret grew up being “in charge,” a trait that served her well throughout life. She was home-schooled and advanced to high school when her mother, a Drake University-educated teacher, deemed her “ready.” Margret’s mother moved to Baker for two years  with her three daughters where Margret attended high school. Then she and her sister, Billie went to Los Angeles, Calif., to live with their mother’s sister.  Ultimately, Margret graduated from Custer County High School, Miles City, at age 15.
            She attended the then Montana State University, Missoula, for one year and returned to Billings Normal School, now known as Montana State University-Billings and was a member of the school’s first graduating class, the Class of 1928, earning a two-year teaching certificate. She returned to Eastern Montana College 40 years later to finish her bachelor’s degree, and she was a guest of honor at its 50th anniversary as one of the school’s first graduates.
            After passing a teachers’ test, she taught at Morin Creek and Armells Creek country schools. Her early teaching career ended in January, 1931, when she married Norris Cole, a rancher she met at a country dance. When her oldest child started college, she returned to teaching fourth and fifth grades in Forsyth.
            Margret and Norris made their home at the family ranch near Sanders, between Forsyth and Hysham, where they raised three children. They were married for 62 years. Margret lived on the Cole ranch for a total of 76 years, planting a large garden every year. She was a charter member of the Hysham Garden Club.
            She frequently rode horseback with her husband and his twin brother to gather and work cattle. She loved palominos and black horses with a running gait and was still riding horses, both western style and side-saddle, into her 90s.
When her children were young, Margret was a 4-H leader and taught all the kids how to dance which was a big part of entertainment then. She often said, “I thought my life would end if I couldn’t go to a dance on Saturday night.”
            She was a member of the Sanders Community women’s group,  the Board of Directors of  Sanders Community Hall Inc., served as a State Republican committee woman, and was involved in Altar and Rosary Society as her Catholic faith was a big part of her life.  Beginning in 1972, she and her sisters gathered together childhood friends from Ashland and the Rosebud Creek area every June for a luncheon, a tradition that descendants of those women continue today, affectionately calling themselves “The Golden Girls.”
            In her later years, she and Norris traveled extensively. Education was extremely important to her; she read a great many books. When she quit teaching, she often read Harlequin romance books  “because they are fast reading and always end nicely.” For Christmas, her children’s families received subscriptions to National Geographic and Reader’s Digest.
            Margret loved to play Bridge and crochet. Just before her death, she finished her 90th crocheted blanket, many of them completed while residing with her daughter and son-in-law in Billings the last eight years of her life.
Her husband and her two sisters, Billie Trusler and Beverly Delmiere, preceded her in death. Survivors include her three children, Mack (Judy) Cole of  Hysham, Priscilla (John) Moorhouse of Billings, and Mark (Barbara) Cole of Shelby; eight grandchildren,  Margret Cole (Dr. JD) Lopez,  Cathy Cole (Bryan) Ratzburg,  Cass (Deb) Cole, Judd (Karrie) Moorhouse, Jennie Moorhouse (Loran) Hansen, Mary Margret Moorhouse (John) Williams, Jason (Melissa) Cole,  and Lara Cole (Ashley) Tait,  28 great-grandchildren  and several special nieces and nephews.
Vigil service is 7 p.m. , Wednesday at St. Bernard Catholic Church, Billings, with funeral Mass at 11 a.m., Thursday, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Hysham.  Internment will be at the Hysham Memorial Vale Cemetery. Memorials may be made to St. Joseph PCCW, P. O. Box  106, Hysham, 59038, or Sanders Community Hall Inc., 388 Old Hwy. 10, Sanders, 59076. Print this post