Jane Iona Lewis
Jane Iona Lewis died July 3, 2020, from a head injury she sustained in a biking accident.
Born 1957 to Clayton and Marilyn (Webb) Slipher in Frankfort, Indiana, Jane graduated from Western High School in Kokomo, Indiana, and Flathead Valley Community College. Always the adventurer, Jane was off to Montana on the back of a motorcycle and took up residence in the North Fork, building a home and living a life of outdoor adventures. Jane worked as a buyer at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. while making many friendships in the North Fork.
Surviving a severe head injury after a fall from a horse, Jane bravely fought and worked hard for several years to recover from the injury. She became a certified personal trainer, certified advanced cycling instructor, substitute teacher, highway construction flagger, and seasonal firefighter.
Jane’s two sons were her main focus and the pride of her life’s work until her death. She taught them the code of the cowboy — honesty, integrity and manners as well as independence and caring. Jane co-owned and worked hard with her family on the 52 Ranch in Dawson County, Montana. She would saddle up for round-ups and branding, trained the ranch dogs and cooked for crowds. She was an excellent horsewoman and loved her horse Bo, riding together in the Great 1989 Centennial Cattle Drive and back country fishing and hunting trips with her family into the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Glacier Park.
Jane loved to ski and taught her boys to ski. Each year she coordinated her Indiana families ski trip to Montana. She looked forward to that event all year.
Jane loved to laugh and was a champion at sarcasm as her many friends will testify to. She would bring homemade soup to someone that was ill, and shoveled a driveway for someone elderly. She volunteered at the Heart Locker, and Kalispell Regional Medical Center in her last years.
More than anything, Jane loved to ride her bike and made many long bike rides with friends over the years. Jane was a loving, loyal, fiercely independent, strong and determined woman with a courageous spirit that will be missed by many. “Saddle up, Shut up, and Hang on” are words she lived and died by.
She is survived by her two sons, Nicholas and Joseph Lewis, mother in Kokomo, two brothers and two sisters in Indiana, one brother in Colorado, her handsome horse Gunnar, and dog Ellie.
Preceding her in death were a father, stepfather and her sweet, loyal horse Bo.
A memorial service will be held for Jane July 17 at 1 p.m., at Darlington Cremation and Burial Service, 3408 U.S. Hwy. 2 East, Kalispell. Everyone is asked to please wear a mask as we gather.