Mae Omodt, 87

Mae Omodt, 87, passed away on Monday, March 12, 2007, in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Graveside services will be held on Monday, March 19, 2007, at the Douglas Park Cemetery in Douglas, Wyoming with Pastor Rosburg officiating.

Mae was born May 21, 1919, near Glendo, S.D., to Ole and Anna Abelseth. Both of her parents had emigrated from Norway and homesteaded in South Dakota, so Mae grew up on the Dakota prairies. She had two brothers, George and Fred, and one sister, Helen. Fred, the youngest, died in 1925, at two years of age.

Mae's father had earlier been to Norway to visit family and friends and had decided to travel back to the United States on the ill-fated ship, the Titanic. His collapsible life raft was one of the last to be picked up by the rescuing ship, the Carpathia.

Mae attended grammar school in a one-room schoolhouse. She graduated from Hettinger High School in North Dakota, 35 miles from her home. She had to room and board in Hettinger during the week, returning home on the weekends. After high school, she attended the Minnesota Business School in Minneapolis and worked for several years in Minneapolis after graduating.

When her brother, George, returned to the farm after serving in the Navy during World War II, Mae returned home to help him manage the farm. When George hired a man to assist him, Mae managed a bank exchange office in Reeder, N.D., the region's commercial center.

Mae married a local boy, Harlan Omodt, on Sept. 5, 1947, after his return form serving in Europe during World War II. He was involved in the fighting at Anzio where he was awarded the Purple Heart and saved the life of a wounded fellow soldier by carrying him to safety while under fire. Harlan graduated from the University of Montana's School of Forestry and worked for the U.S. Forest Service in South Dakota and Wyoming. They had five children.

Harlan's work required frequent moves and the family lived in five different locations before settling down in Douglas, Wyo., in 1960. In the late 1960s, Harlan and Mae purchased the Trading Post, a small grocery store. Together with their children, they operated the store for several years. Harlan passed away in June 1976. After his death, Mae earned a degree in medical recording and worked at the Converse County Hospital until 1980, when she moved to Sandpoint to be closer to family.

While in Sandpoint, she worked as a medical librarian for Bonner General Hospital and as a medical transcriptionist for Dr. Hugh Leedy.

She will be remembered for her homemade bread and doughnuts, her incredible ability to out walk most everyone, and for her devotion and love of her children and their growing families.

In 2004, she was the second resident to move into the new BeeHive facility in Kootenai, where she received extraordinary care from the owners and staff. Mae passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, having recently moved to the Life Care Center of Sandpoint.

Mae is survived by her sons and their spouse, Fred and Patty of Sandpoint, Will and Marilyn of Blountville, Tenn., and Jimm and Mary of St Mary's, Kan.; her brother George (and Janice) Abelseth of Hettinger, N.D., and her sister Helen (and Jack) Locey of Walnut Creek, Calif. Mae also has 16 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her younger brother, Fred; her husband; and two of her children, Karen and Mark.

Memorial donations may be made to: Sandpoint Pro Life Organization, P.O. Box 1107, Sandpoint, ID 83864

Family and friends are invited to sign Mae's on line guest book at www.coffeltfuneral.com.

Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Coffelt Funeral Service.