Kay Mitchell

Kay Mitchell, 76, of Great Falls, died of complications from a massive stroke on Wednesday, January 9, 2013, at a local hospital.A funeral mass to celebrate her life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 12, 2013 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. There will be a private family burial service at a later date.Schnider Funeral Home is handling arrangements.Kay was born on June 8, 1936 to William K. and Mildred M. (Jaap) Leslie.She had one sister, Janice Leslie, who preceded her in death in 2010.Kay graduated from Great Falls High School in 1954 and attended Montana State University.She married Harry B. Mitchell in 1955 and accompanied him during his military service to Texas and Japan.They returned to Great Falls in 1960 where she spent the remainder of her life raising their four children and working hard alongside her family on the family dairy farm.Kay kept the books for the farm for over 35 years.Over the years, Kay was active in many civic organizations.She was a past president of the Junior League, served as a board member for the City/County Planning Board for several years in the 1970s, and was a member of the Cascade County Historical Society.Kay was very active with the Lewis & Clark Community, and she was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.One of Kays greatest joys was spending time with her children and grandchildren and she felt especially blessed by the recent birth of her first great-grandchild.Her other interests included her monthly bridge club, antiquing with the Questers Antique Club, spending time in her yard and traveling.A highlight of her life was a trip to Scotland in June 2012 to explore her family heritage.She was accompanied on that trip by her husband of 57 years and their two oldest daughters.Kay is survived by her husband, Harry Mitchell of Great Falls; daughters Leslie (Alan) Vandeventer of Casper, WY, Fran (Mike) Masters of Great Falls and Jessie (Randy, deceased) DeHaan of Mahomet, IL; son Scott Mitchell (Barb Bryan) of Billings; nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to be made to the Janice Leslie Memorial Library at the Great Falls "public" Schools Early Learning Center, 1100 4th Str. So., Great Falls, MT59405, or to an organization of the donors choice.Condolences may be sent to www.schniderfuneralhome.com