Fay (Waldemar) McCracken

Florence - Fay Waldemar McCracken 94, passed away peacefully in the early morning hours, at her.home Friday, January 24, 2025. She was born on July 19, 1930, in Dillion, MT to Leonard Franklin Waldemar and Estella Dickson. She joined an older brother Leonard and sister June.

She spent her first few years at her parents' log cabin on their 40 acre homestead in Browns Canyon about 10 miles above Grant, Montana, in the Horse Prairie Valley. Later the family moved to Grant so her older brother could start school. Sometime tater they moved to the Grasshopper Valley where her Dad was the ranch foreman for the Nay Brothers Ranch near Polaris, MT. She started school at the one room school house in Polaris. ln the winter when they were snowed in, her Dad would harness the horses to the sled and he would take them across the field to school. She loved school and the personal attention from the teacher. She attended her first 3 years at the Polaris School.

On of her dearest memories as a child was watching her grandmother, mother, and aunt's make quilts. Her Grandmother Dickson had seven girls, and they were all quilters. When she .visited in the summer', she was taught how to card raw wool so it could be cleaned and stretched to make batting for the quilts.

Their mailbox was two miles from their ranch but when the weather was good she and her siblings would walk out to the mailbox. New mail order catalogues from Montgomery Ward and Sears and Robuck were always a big treat.

Fay's Mama made all the bread for the family and whenever she made a fresh batch, they would have scones. The scones were fried bread eaten hot with butter and honey. That was a big favorite with the whole family and has remained so down through the years.

She and her brother and sister were given each a bum lamb by one of the neighbors to raise. They became great pets and had them for several years. On the ranch all the work was done with horses. ln the. summer if any of the mares had colts, they were kept in the barn or corral while their mothers were working in the fields. She always enjoyed the colts and spent a lot of time petting and trying to tame them.

After the ranch in the Grasshopper was sold, they moved back to Grant. It was there that her mother's health started to fail. This led to her spending most of the day in bed. She.and her sister June took over the cleaning and fixing the meals, while her brother Leonard helped their Dad.

The one thing that Fay remembers about this time is a friend of hers giving her a picture of .lesus with the Lord's prayer on the back. When she looked at the picture she felt as if she had always known him.

By the.summer of 1940 her .Mama's.health continued to decline .and her Dad and Leonard had to be gone a lot in order to support the family. Her sheep that she had raised and had brought with them to Grant got sick and died. With everyone gone and her Mama too ill to help, Fay dug a grave for her all by herself.

Fay's Mama's health required them to move to Dillon to be closer to a doctor. They stayed with her mother's parents. On August 7, 1940 her mother passed away on the summer porch of the house. She remembers she and Leonard and June went out and sat in the back seat of the car and cried together.

Her Dad took his little family back to Grant to live with Grandmother Watdennar.. That was a lonely year she recalls. They missed their Mama and their Dad was gone a lot to work and provide.

1941 they moved back to Dillon and lived with Grandmother Dickson. Leonard was starting high school. This was the first time for Fay be in a school that had.more than one room. She was starting the 6th grade. She was definitely a country girl now facing a much bigger school. She was. shy and didn't know anyone. But to her surprise the children in her class were friendly and welcoming and didn't seem to notice that her dress was homemade.

When fay had graduated from the 8th grade her Dad rented a house in Dillon. It was nice be together as a family again, but it wasn't easy as June and she had to keep the house, do the cooking. and go to school. She said they learned a lot and learned to appreciate each other.

As a freshman in high school Fay wanted to learn to twirl. A friend of hers taught her how to twirl she was good enough to be accepted jnto the band. At that time.whenever the band preformed they had twirlers as part of the performance. Her freshman year also brought a young man into her life name Dick McCracken.

Fay's high school years were busy with glee club, plays, skiing. She loved school and was an honor roll student.

Fay's senior year her Dad passed away. He was 52 years old, just a little over 7 years after her Momma died.

For her graduation her high school sweetheart proposed with a gift of an engagement ring. Yes, it was Dick McCracken the .same boy.she met the first day.she :started the 6th _grade. She felt like she was the luckiest girl in the world. Dick went to college his freshman year at the U of M in Missoula. When he returned in the summer, they planned their wedding before he headed back to college. On September 11, 1949 they were married in Dillon. They moved to Missoula where Fay went to work for Mountain Bell as a telephone operator while Dick attended college. After his graduation the fall semester of 1951they moved back to Dillon where he went into business with his father T Lee, at McCracken Brothers Men's Store. Their first baby Vicky Lee was born on July 17, 1952. When Vickie was 1 year old they bought an old.house on Thompson Ave and remodeled it. They paid $4000 for it. Nancy Lynn joined their family on March 24, 1954.

When her children were young, she was very involved in many activities. Fay was active in Jaycees, worked at the store during the holidays, and did all the alterations for the store. In the winter she helped Dick run the ski area by teaching ski lessons. She taught hundreds of children to ski and loved the reward of watching those enjoy their new skill. Fay ran the concession stand also and made all the food at home and transported it to the ski hill each weekend. She made thousands of gallons of chili and homemade pies during that time. She also did all the buying for the women's sportswear and ski equipment. She and Dick enjoyed going on buying trips and seeing all the new style for the coming year.

She was also very active in church and served in several positions in Primary arid Young Woman's.

Summers. were spent at the summer home near Elkhorn. Along with Vickie and Nancy much of It was a spent with her sisters and nieces and nephews. Husbands came on weekends to enjoy. These were special times for them. ft was a real vacation as they would swim every day, go on hikes and picnics, go fishing, explore old mining towns, climb mountains, hunt crystals or whatever they felt like doing that day. They always had a picnic lunch, even if it was just in the yard.

Sadness came into her life when she and Dick divorced December of 1970. Fay stayed in Dillon until Nancy graduated from high school. The fall of 1972 she moved to Park City, UT. She got a job as a full time ski instructor. Life at Park City was an exciting new experience for her. Fay taught there for 5 years. It was a very positive experience for her, as she was respected as being an excellent instructor. During her time at Park City, she bought a home in Heber City. The neighbors immediately adopted her and she loved the area. Nancy was attending BYU and her nephew Eddie was attending Utah technical college. Being close to family was wonderful.

After 5 years at Park City and Heber she moved to Springville, UT and went back to work for Mountain Bell. It was a good job with even better benefits. She started painting lessons.

In September of 1981she had an opportunity to transfer to Mountain Bell in Missoula. With the help of her son-in-law John, he built her home on the eastside highway about 3 miles from Florence. It was a beautiful home and Fay had many happy memories there with her grandchildren and her beautiful white German Shepherd, Tasha.

She was an avid supporter of her grandchildren's activities. She never missed a game, play or event at school until all had graduated from high school. She had a special little notebook that she would keep score of each grandchild's games and how many points they scored. Everyone knew when Grandma Fay was in the housel

From games of her grandchildren, she moved to wedding cake making, but only for them. Although that transitioned into nieces and nephews also.

Fay always loved to write. Poetry at first, then stories for her grandchildren, then a published book based on her great grandfather titled "Jud's Journey". She had several articles printed in church magazines.

But her favorite hobbies were her yard and garden. When she lived on the eastside, she had 2 acres of yard and beautiful flower gardens. Her favorite was her iris garden, that boasted beautiful multicolored blooms.

When she retired from AT&T she sold her home on the eastside and moved over dose to Vicki and John. Here she landscaped again. Trees, gardens7 and her beloved fairy garden.

She went to work for her daughter helping her in her preschool. She loved the children and once again started writing down the cute things that preschoolers say. At 78 she finally decided to retire again!

Fay was then was called to be the LDS stake historian. She worked tirelessly researching past history of the church in the Bitterroot Valley and compiled an extensive history dating back to the early 1940's.

In closing, her words speak of her life, "t guess you could say my life has been pretty ordinary, but as I look back through the shadows of my memories, It seems much more than ordinary to me. I have known happiness that lifted my spirits to the greatest possible joy and I have known sadness and grief that has torn my soul into the darkest despair. My life has been punctuated by the effervescence of children's laughter, rising like bubbles all around me, and for a while it was filled with the warmth of a sweetheart's love. It has also been filled with long hours of terrible loneliness and need for companionship and understanding. Through all of my trials I have been sustained with the knowledge of the atonement of my dear Lord and Savior and his love for me."

Fay was preceded in death by her parents, Leonard and Estella Waldemar, brother Leonard Waldemar, sisters Betty Joy and June Kamps, great grandson, Bradley Schaff. Fay is survived by her two daughters, Vickie (John) Cornish, Nancy Winstead, nine grandchildren, Carrie, Kevin, Clint, Krista, Courtney. Jamie, Tonia, Stormi and Faye. 23 great grandchildren, and four great great-grandchildren. A service will be held on Monday, February 3 at 11:00 A.M. at the LDS Church in Lolo. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.whitesittfuneralhome.com.

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