Shelley McCabe
Shellaine Marie (Shelley) McCabe, 55, of Troy, died Feb. 18, 2005, at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle after a six-year battle with cancer.
She was born on Oct. 4, 1949, in Madison County, the second of six children and the oldest daughter of Melvin R. and Elaine Schlachter Massey.
Raised as a gold miner's daughter, Shelley lived in several central Montana towns.
She met Michael Funk in high school and they were married in 1966 and had three children.
They moved to Libby in 1973.
Shelley worked as a receptionist for the supervisor of the Kootenai National Forest and after moving to Kalispell in 1980 she continued to work as secretary to the supervisor of the Flathead National Forest.
She married Gary McCabe in 1980, beginning, as she described it, a nomadic life that took her from Kalispell to Ord, Neb., and to Edmonds and Everett in Washington.
They returned to Shelley's beloved Montana in 1993, moving to Troy where they continued to operate a construction consulting business. For five years they owned and operated Kootenai River Outfitters.
Among the many things that Shelley will be remembered for is her work with the annual Troy Fourth of July celebration. Her home was a gathering place for teens and she loved to fish.
After her diagnosis in 1999, much of her time was spent in the Seattle area and in traveling with Gary as they worked various consulting projects in the western states.
Survivors include her husband, Gary; son Richard and his wife Anita Funk, Walla Walla, Wash.; daughters Tammy and her husband Joe Reichert, Belgrade, and Jenny Funk and Scott Hoffman, Troy; her mother Elaine Stalder, Twin Bridges; brothers Rance Massey, Littleton, Colo.; Milton Massey, Sacramento, Calif.; sisters Lora Dueck, Abbotsford, B.C.; Victoria Plagakis, Stowe, Vt., and Gayle Richardson, St. Regis.
She spoke proudly of her grandchildren Kennady and Jared Funk; Jay and Jessica Reichert and Kody, Christopher, Adam and Steven Hoffman, and her numerous nieces and nephews.
Her extended family included Grace McCabe, Marysville, Wash., Karla McCabe, Alan, Jason and Jacob Colclough, Libby, and Erin, Bryan and Kayla Johnson of Milton-Freewater, Ore.
Her unconditional love, quick wit, bright smile and wise counsel will live on in memory.
A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, at the Senior Citizens Center in Troy.
Plan to share memories of Shelley at a buffet luncheon with her family after the service.
Memorial contributions to benefit breast cancer research at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance can be sent to Susan Caputo, UW Medicine Development, 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000, Seattle, WA 98101.
Shelley also participated in and supported Casting for Recovery, a program for cancer survivors, and memorial contributions can be sent in her name to Box 1123, Manchester, VT 05254.