Ramona Mae 'Monie' Sacht Maloney

Ramona Mae “Monie” Sacht Maloney went home on Friday, Sept. 23, 2016, to be with her beloved husband, George, and her Lord.

Monie was born to William Charles Sacht and Arlie Berger Sacht in Clark Fork, Idaho, on March 23, 1929, and lived there until her passing.

Clark Fork to Monie was “God’s Country.” The family feels so blessed to have had the support and love of an amazing community of caring souls so she was able to take her last breath in “God’s Country” — Nothing could have made her happier! Thank you all for your love and support and a special thank you to Auburn Crest Hospice of Bonners Ferry. Monie leaves a legacy of four daughters, 12 beloved grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren.

Monie was born the youngest child, with two older loving sisters, Kathleen (“Sis”) and Laurayne (“Toddie”); and four dotting brothers, Marlyn (“Bud”), Forrest, William (“Bill”) and Raymond (“Shorty”). One of Monie’s girlhood memories was living across from Frank’s (Vogel) and watching the Blackfeet Indians come over in summer to pick huckleberries. They would pull their travois with their horses in front of their house and camp on Lightning Creek. She talked about how her brother Bill would go play with the “Indians.” Of course, when the siblings got together we heard other great childhood “hooligan” stories, such as toppling outhouses with people in them! She was always so happy when she was with her siblings, especially when they came to Clark Fork and visited.

Monie attended school at Clark Fork. She talked about being one the best (beating many of the boys) at playing “marbles” and loved being outside playing with her sisters, brothers, and friends.

When Monie was just barely 19, a handsome man drove into town in his 1947 Ford and came by the Sacht family house headed to his Uncle Frank Vogel’s. Toddie tells the story of how she looked out the window as he drove by and Toddie said “I wish I had that car” and Monie replied “I wish I had what was in it.” Well, shortly thereafter on Sept. 28, 1948, she married George Maloney and they went on their honeymoon in the ’47 Ford to Yellowstone and came back and made their home in a tiny bungalow on the highway in Clark Fork. They had running water, but like many of that time they didn’t have indoor plumbing and Monie cooked on a wood stove. They raised four beautiful girls, Julia, Rhea, Delilah (“DeeDee”) and Roberta (“Robin”) while they lived in their small two-bedroom home. Shortly after Robin was born, they moved “across the alley” to where they remained for the rest of their lives.

George supported their family by first working for his Uncle Frank and doing commercial fishing on Lake Pend Oreille. He got a summer job working for the Forest Service, which eventually turned into a full-time job, allowing Monie to have a wonderful life here in God’s County.

One of Monie’s greatest loves was going out fishing with George. She loved being with him on the lake catching bluebacks or ice fishing. She truly loved it when she would catch more or a bigger fish than him (which wasn’t very often!).

Most Sundays after church were “family day” and everyone would get in the 1947 Ford and head up into the woods and play, go fishing, or head down to the lake and swim until all the girls’s teeth were chattering and they would bring them home and tuck them into bed. They would also take us on Sunday road trips packing up all of us (maybe even for the weekend) and heading to Monie’s sister Toddies’ home in Paradise/Plains, Mont. Many holidays were spent with Toddie and Monie being together cooking those big Thanksgiving/Christmas turkeys while the children played in the yard.

And if she weren’t out fishing, then Monie would be up huckleberry picking or looking for morels. George would always find the best places in the mountains around Clark Fork for either. There was no one who could pick huckleberries like Monie … while the rest of her family would, maybe, have a small amount in their pails, Monie would have picked a gallon. The family, including George, would have purple mouths and Monie would have purple fingers!

Although she didn’t graduate high school, Monie later in life decided to go back and get her GED. After getting her GED she went on and went to beauty school in Sandpoint and became a beautician. She put in a small hair salon in the back of their home on Fifth. Monie loved cutting and styling hair. Cutting hair was a love of her life since she was a young woman so to have graduated as a beautician was for Monie a wonderful milestone.

She was a real Wampus Cat fan and she and George rarely missed a basketball or football game. They would often even travel to the basketball games to watch both the girls and boys play. One close game in Troy, Monie even got a foul called on her for screaming at the referee for which she was quite proud!

Since George and Monie made sure every girl played an instrument, Monie became very involved in getting band uniforms. She worked hard to raise the money and then made sure the uniforms were pressed and ready for every performance.

Monie and George quietly gave a lot to their dear friend Jack Anderson. The Andersons’ son Iver was born with a rare type of leukemia. Monie and George took their times and funds to make sure that Iver got to Spokane every week to get his treatments. They also took in their niece Linda Vogel who lived with the family for many years — giving George a home with six women!

After all the girls left the house and George retired, George and Monie had time to travel — and travel they did! Alaska called them and they fell in love. They made five glorious trips to Alaska where they would fish and clam and visit friends. Their dear friends Don and Darlene Lyons were living up in Anchorage at the time so they would park their camper and Don and Darlene took them out fishing in their boat. Mom had an exciting time fishing the Russian River with hundreds of others. It was daunting at first, but she caught several salmon on the river. Mom took up her canning equipment and would can all of their fish and clams to bring home. The family was summarily treated to some of the best clam chowder you have ever eaten! And her canned fish — well all we can say is “yum yum.”

Although Alaska may have been some of their favorite trips, they travelled to Portland to visit Rhea and her family and to Burley to visit DeeDee and her family. They would go to Michigan to visit George’s family, stopping off on their way to visit old and dear friends, Jim and Edee Boyer. They went to visit Marines with whom George served in World War II in Arizona, California, Texas and Florida. The whole United States became their playground.

Monie and George made it possible for all of the girls to come home for two weeks every August for a “family reunion” that included a great deal of laughter, huckleberry picking, water skiing, homemade ice cream, hiking in the woods and just hanging out. Tents would cover the yard, children would follow Grandpa like little ducks, great food was severed and lots of memories were made. These are memories that their grandchildren will carry with them forever.

The celebration of Monie’s wonderful life will be held at Coffelt Funeral Chapel in Sandpoint, Idaho, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016. There will be a Mass of the Resurrection at Sacred Heart Church, which will be announced at a later date at which time her urn will be buried at the Clark Fork Cemetery with George. She was “one determined woman” and held on to that to the end. We are so very very proud of her courage and the peaceful way she went home. We love you and will miss you our dear mother, grandmother and friend. Have fun dancing with Daddy!

Family and friends are invited to sign Ramona’s online guest book at www.coffeltfuneral.com.

Arrangements are under the care of Coffelt Funeral Service.