Faith Marie Paxton, 63

Faith Marie Paxton, 63, passed away peacefully Jan. 5, 2022, surrounded by family at the Libby Care Center. She was born in Santa Maria, Calif., to John and Carolyn Arvoux.

Faith married her first husband, William Benson, and they had three daughters together — Crystal, Nova and Violet — before he passed. In 1981, she married her late husband Wayne Paxton and had two daughters, Shavon and Amber. Later, her only son, Joshua James, was born and her daughter, Rhiannon, shortly after. She and Wayne raised all of them until he passed in 2005.

So many more than just her seven kids called her mom.

Faith loved to cook; no one ever went hungry when visiting her home. She had a green thumb and her home was filled with plants.

Violet hopes to become half the woman her mom was. She loved unicorns and had quite the collection. Her daughter Rhiannon says, “Now you get to fly high with them."

Faith is survived by six of her children, 16 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and her husband, John Whiteside, who held her hand until the very end.

She is preceded in death by her daughter, Nova Mayy, and granddaughter, Kiera Elizabeth.

In the end, she wanted Amber to know, “There's no crying in baseball.”

Life simply won't be the same without her, but in her final moments she told Shavon “Everything's gonna be okay.”

There will be a celebration of life 3 p.m., Jan. 29 at 505 E. 10th St., Libby. Arrangements are by Schnackenberg Funeral Home in Libby. Online condolences and memories may be shared at www.schnackenbergfh.com.