Mil Applegate

Mil (Mildred Ann) Applegate died peacefully in her sleep at The Village Health Care Center on the morning of Jan. 15, 2015.  She resided there for the past two years, where she was well-known for her frequent power walks throughout the building and occasionally getting too close to the exits. She was deeply appreciative of the loving care she received there and remained active in a variety of Village programs until her last few days.

Mil was born April 10, 1927 in Libby. She was the daughter of a Swedish immigrant, Augustus Victor Larson and a French Canadien/Mandan mother, Elizabeth Ayotte. In her early years, she enjoyed playing piano and cavorting with her brothers. She began working in her late teens as a telephone operator in the Lily Tomlin-style days of plug-in connections and multi-party lines.

She met Paul Warner Applegate, the son of Libby’s Church of God pastor Benjamin Harrison Applegate, after Paul returned from the Pacific Theater at the end of World War II. They were married soon thereafter. She and Paul lived in company housing for a time and eventually built their own home. They raised two sons, Vick (Victor) and Rick. Long before there was soccer in the area, she was the classic baseball mom, taking her kids to their Little League games and, for a big day, traveling to Spokane to watch the Dodger farm team play in the days of Frank Howard, Maury Wills and the Sherry brothers. They brought home a couple foul balls and a lifetime of great memories. Mil was later to joke with her friends at The Village that these “two guys” kept following her around the nursing home, but were never in jail.

When her sons were old enough to be trusted with the TV dinners that were all the rage in those days, she went back to work in Libby for Dr. Ed Johnston as a dental assistant, a job she thoroughly enjoyed for many years. When she and Paul retired, they traveled the warmer climate of the Southwest in an RV, then settled for a time in Palm Springs where they volunteered at the Bob Hope Desert Classic and other golf tournaments. Later, they made their home in St. George, Utah. Both made holes-in-one; but Paul was quick to point out that he was first, and had more; and had in fact made two in a row during a tournament. Mil just rolled her eyes at all that….

After a decade of pleasant retirement, Mil was preceded in death by Paul, her husband of over forty years, who passed in the spring of 1991.  She was also preceded in death by her five brothers.  

Mil is survived by her two sons and a grandson: Rick and daughter-in-law Bess Wong of Portland, Ore., Vick and daughter-in-law Jean (Crosser) of Missoula and their son, Rick Thomas Applegate of Olympia, Wash. Mil was also especially close to her niece Bruna Bogart (Larson) of Missoula, who was a regular companion. Bruna became the daughter that Mil never had and she remained steadfastly devoted to her until the end.

Mil will be laid to rest in the shadow of the Cabinet Mountains in the Libby cemetery next to Paul and her mother-in-law and father-in-law and just a stone’s throw away from the resting place of her father and mother and near the home where she grew up.  She will be missed by all who knew her, a kind, gentle soul who shared a fine long life with Paul, her family and friends.  At Mil’s request there will be no funeral.  Arrangements are by Schnackenberg & Nelson Funeral Home in Libby.  Online condolences and memories may be shared at www.schnackenbergfh.com.