Ruth Ione Feltis

Ruth Ione (Rindal) Feltis, 77, a loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother, and friend, passed away peacefully on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, at the McCall Rehabilitation Center in McCall, Idaho, from complications of dementia.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 19, at the Community Church in Riggins, Idaho. Burial will occur at a later date at the St. Paul Lutheran Church Cemetery near Fairfield, Mont.

She was born in Choteau, Mont., on March 18, 1938, to Austin and Louise (Lutke) Rindal. She was the ninth of 11 children. She grew up on the Fairfield Bench and attended school at Greenfield Country School and Fairfield High School.

As a child, she helped her family by working beside her sisters hoeing the huge garden and potato patch, cooking, baking and tending the family’s apple trees. She and her siblings used to swim in the near-by irrigation ditches, and in the winter they skated on the drain ditch. She recalled sleeping three to a bed and having one of her sisters rub warts on her.

While in high school, she was privileged to play the French horn in the Parade of Roses in Portland, Ore. She met Jack Parcel while attending high school in Fairfield. They were married in 1955 and had three children: Duane, Brenda and Tim. They were later divorced.

While working as a car-hop at Pete’s Drive-In in Great Falls, She met and fell in love with George Meldon Feltis. They were married on Sept. 16, 1960, and added two children to the family, Steven and Danny. The family lived in Great Falls for a few years and then moved to Peerless, and later Opheim. She spent time trucking and hauling grain alongside George when they lived in Peerless.

While in Opheim, she and George operated the town bowling alley for a short while. Later, she worked as a cook at the school and was a member of First Lutheran Church.

She and George enjoyed many activities together including bowling, playing cards, dancing, riding snowmobile and curling. She always enjoyed spending time with family and friends.

In 1979, George, Ruth, and Danny moved back to Great Falls, where she worked as a cook for the “Sisters of Charity,” a school for handicapped children. A few years later, they moved to Vacaville, Calif., for George’s job with the Civil Service.

She was very active in their church, Shepard of the Hills. She also worked as a nanny to a family with three children, who held a special place in her heart.

Never one to be idle, she filled her other hours with many handicrafts including tole-painting, embroidery and counted cross-stitch. She sold many of her creations at bazaars, but also gave many items to her family and friends. She was very talented and her works will be treasured by her family for years to come.

One huge highlight in her life was her trip to Norway to see where her father was born and to see the Rindal farm that still resides in the family. She met many relatives while in Norway. Her son, Tim, and sister, Neva, along with other relatives from the States, were also on this extended family trip.

She and George moved to Riggins in 1997, after George’s retirement. She was so happy to live in the “banana belt” in the beautiful mountains of central Idaho. She and her sister, Neva, shared a special relationship, and it was an added bonus that Neva Rice and her husband, Bill, lived near-by in Cascade. The sisters and their spouses spent many fun-filled days together playing games, visiting, and traveling the mountain trails around Idaho.

For Ruth and George’s 50th Wedding Anniversary, they took a trip to Alaska and had a wonderful time! They saw many beautiful sights on this trip. Ruth’s sister, Ellen “Snookie” was in Alaska also, and they all stayed with Ellen’s daughter, Susan, who took them sightseeing.

She loved to spend time with her grandchildren and always made them feel special. She was a young grandma, and as such, she was able to do many activities with her grandkids, such as swimming, hiking, picking huckleberries and playing games. Many of her children and grandchildren had butter tubs full of change at her house, ready for a game of poker or tripoley. She enjoyed “just a smell” of white zinfandel occasionally and always complained that it made her warm; she would fan herself and say, “Hoo, I’m hot!”

She and George always enjoyed spending time with family and friends. They rarely missed a family reunion or gathering. They would often travel back to central and northeastern Montana to visit family. They had made many special friends in the Peerless and Opheim area and always made a point to see them and play a game or two of cards.

In her later years, she enjoyed spending time with her great-grandchildren. They spent time rock-picking (finding pretty rocks was a lifetime hobby), playing games and working on puzzles. She loved to give them treats, especially chocolate-covered raisins.

She will be dearly missed by those whose lives she touched, but the imprint she left will live with us who loved her forever.

She was preceded in death by her beloved son, Steven George Feltis; her parents, Austin and Louise Rindal; three brothers, Arnie Rindal and his wife, Helen, Leif Rindal and his wife, Marilyn, and Wayne Rindal; and three sisters: Lorna Beerman and her husband, Allen, Virginia Johnson and her husband, Don, and Neva Rice and her husband, Bill.

Survivors include her husband, George; four children: Duane Parcel and his wife, Patti, Brenda Tarum and her husband, Dale, Tim Parcel and his wife, Lynne, and Danny Feltis and his wife, Liz; 10 grandchildren: Kris Keller and his wife, Shelley, Josh Keller and his wife, Cassie, Matthew Keller and his wife, Elisa, Zach Tarum and his wife, BethAnne, Chrissa Nelson and her husband, Jayson, Tieg Tarum, Chad Parcel, Jaylynn Parcel, April Smith, and Caitlin Restrepo and her husband, Nick; 12 great-grandchildren: Vince Gonzales and Brielle Keller, Easton and Allison Keller, Jacqueline and Zane Tarum, Cameron, Austin and Cora Nelson, Evy Parcel and Baylie and Samantha Smith; three sisters: Mary Brady and her husband, Alvie, Ellen Mergenthal and her husband, Donnie, and Judy Jennell and her husband, Jim; and one brother, Gary Rindal and his wife, Karen.