Millie Wolfe, my longtime friend, was a plucky little lady. She was 65 years old when we decided to go skydiving but not tell our families. We did not want to listen to their objections. My grandson, Joel Atkinson, was avid skydiver with Fred Sand at Lost Prairie.

We did renege, however, and told my daughters, Gail and Laurie, our plans. We even let them accompany us on the big day. I read registration papers and decided not to skydive with back injuries. I sat with the pilot. Millie was comfortable with load of Arizona skydivers in the Osprey waiting to jump out of the airplane at 13,000 feet.

Millie and I met in Eastern Star and later made our first ventures into North Valley Senior Citizens together. We were in our 50s and felt as though we were young new kids on the block.

Millie was a friend such as few find in a lifetime. She was loyal, honest, never eliminating or fabricating details, always ready to go on a new adventure, creative, was a giver, not a taker, and did not gloat when she beat me at many pinochle games. Confidences were never revealed.

We enjoyed Amtrak trips to West Virginia and Indiana together. Gun shows were always fun as Millie knew vendors and about guns. She was independent and would crawl on the roof to repair it rather than calling family members. They finally took ladder and hammer away.

The family moved to West Glacier from Indiana and Jim continued his work as an excellent carpet layer for Melby's. Millie was his No. 1 assistant through the years.

Millie had a lot of sorrow during her life. She stoically endured it all. Youngest son, three-year-old Tommy, was ill with leukemia when the family moved to Montana. He died shortly after their arrival.

She nursed her husband, Jim Wolfe, until brain cancer claimed him. Four children preceded Millie in death. First loss was Tommy, followed years later by daughter, Margaret Price, in Indiana; sons, Scott Wolfe, Hungry Horse, and Mark Wolfe, Columbia Falls. A granddaughter, Stephanie Wolfe, was killed in a California traffic accident.

She moved to Immanuel Lutheran Home during the past year and was happy there. Millie had many health problems, most arising from several diabetes complications. She did not complain. Millie died of a heart attack, Sept. 11.

Gladys Shay is a longtime resident and columnist for the Hungry Horse News.