Hilda Rolseth McCallum
Hilda Rolseth McCallum, 90, formerly of Libby, died Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006, at the Sunshine Gardens nursing home in Spokane Valley, Wash., where she had lived since falling in August.
She had lived in Spokane Valley for the past 47 years.
Hilda was born July 21, 1916, in Spokane to the late Ane and Ole Rolset (later changed to Rolseth), Norwegian immigrants from the Selbu area.
Her father was a surveyor and helped build the elevated railroad bed that still goes through Spokane. About a year later the family moved to Libby, where Ole opened South Libby Market on Larch Street.
Blessed with the gift of music, Hilda took piano lessons from an early age. She is said to have been so young that she couldn't reach the pedals, and her father would sit on the bench with her and pump the organ as she played.
Hilda is the first recorded organist at the old Norwegian Lutheran Church in Libby, now Christ Lutheran. Ole is listed as the first Sunday school superintendent,
Hilda also played the accordion. In early years, she played in a musical group for dances at Cedar Creek.
She graduated in 1934 from Libby High School and later from Kinman Business University in Spokane. Hilda took a job in a creamery. There, she became better acquainted with Libby classmate Clarence "Bud" McCallum.
Hilda caught the train to Ellensburg, and they married May 2, 1938, in Yakima, Wash.
She was a loving wife for 68 years and a wonderful mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and aunt.
Hilda also was preceded in death by her brothers Odin and Albert Rolseth; nieces, including Carolyn Bryn Nelson; and brothers-in-law Frank Nelson and Dr. Harry Haynes.
Surviving are her husband; sons James "Jim" and his wife, Nola, McCallum, and David and his wife, Genene McCallum, all of Spokane; grandchildren Christopher McCallum and fiancee, Jaime, of Spokane, Melissa Heard, and her husband, Sam, and their daughter, Naomi, of Vancouver, B.C., Robert McCallum and his wife, Lindsey, and their daughter Jocilyn of Grandview, Wash.; daughters Kelsey and Gwyneth McCallum of Ithaca, N.Y.; Nathan McCallum of Spokane; Timothy McCallum of Dover, Del.; and Greg McCallum, and his wife, Julie, and sons Luke and David Jr. and daughter Jaelynne of Eddyville, Ore.
Also surviving are sisters Jen Nelson and Borghild MacDonald, both of Libby; Gladys Haynes of Arlington, Va.; Thelma Darsow and her husband, Norman, of Tacoma, Wash.; and sisters-in-law Mary Lou Rolseth of Santa Rosa, Calif., and Delores Fredrickson and her husband, Harvey, of Libby.
A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Spokane Valley. Pastor Gerald Kemp, formerly of Libby, will officiate.
Services will be conducted 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at Nelson & Vial Funeral Home Chapel. Internment will follow. Visitation will be 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.Saturday. Pastor Greg McCallum of Eddyville, Ore., will conduct the service.
Memorials may be made to Redeemer Lutheran Church, Juvenile Diabetes Association or Carolyn Bryn Nelson Memorial Scholarship Fund at the MSU-Billings Foundation, 1500 University Drive, Billings, MT, 59101.