Mary Jane Bergmann passed away peacefully on May 22, 2013, in Aurora, Colo.

She was born in Walla Walla, Wash., on Nov. 13, 1921, the daughter of Harry C. Petram and Ruth Sundelius Petram. Her father died from a fall in a construction accident when Mary Jane was 17 months old. At the age of nine, Mary Jane moved with her mother to live with her grandparents in Half Moon. In 1932, when Mary Jane was 10, her mother married Albert Sales and they moved to his ranch in the upper Thompson River area, where she attended the one-room Thompson River Schoolhouse. Mary Jane lived in Kalispell with her uncle, Dr. Victor Sundelius and his family, while attending Flathead County High School.

After graduating from high school Mary Jane opened her own public stenography office, and after proving her capabilities, became a stenographer for a local oil refinery office. Mary Jane first met Wally Bergmann across the meat counter at Sykes’ Cash Market while shopping with her mother. In the summer of 1941, she was singing for entertainment at a dance at Boisvert’s Resort west of Kalispell when Wally and a friend showed up and that began their relationship. They had only been dating a short time when World War II began with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wally enlisted in the Navy and was soon sent to San Diego for basic training. Even though they had only had a total of nine dates, one of those to church, Mary Jane moved to San Diego in late September, and they were married on Oct. 3, 1942. While her husband was serving aboard ship in the Pacific, Mary Jane worked as a teller at banks in San Diego, and later on in Oakland.

At the end of the war, Mary Jane and Wally moved back to Kalispell where they raised their two children, Ruth and Roger. When the children were young, Mary Jane worked nights, after the children had gone to bed, doing bookkeeping for businesses around town so she could be home with the children during the day. When Roger was in fifth grade, she went back to work as a bookkeeper for SaveMore Drug Store, then for Henry Jordahl, CPA, Matelich Construction and the Rambler dealership. About 1965, Mary Jane was employed as the Executive Secretary for the Kalispell office of the U.S. Selective Service System, where she remained until the draft ended and the Selective Service office was closed in 1973.

 Always wanting to learn new things, Mary Jane attended Flathead Valley Community College where she took classes in computer science, as well as drama and other subjects. About 1975, she was able to continue her federal employment with jobs at the U.S. Forest Service offices in Hungry Horse and Columbia Falls. Mary Jane kept in touch with family and friends through email until her health began to fail at age 90.

Mary Jane loved music and had a beautiful voice. She had sung in many venues around Flathead County from high school through the 1960s, as a soloist for many different occasions, and in the Methodist church choir. Mary Jane was a member of the Epworth United Methodist Church for 77 years until moving to Colorado on Oct. 29, 2012, to be near her daughter Ruth and family. She was also an active member of the Rebekkah Lodge in Kalispell during the 1940s, at which time she had worked her way through the “chairs” to be Noble Grand, and then again from the 1980s until age 89 in active participation with Wally, who became Grand Master of the International Order of Odd Fellows for the State of Montana. They traveled all over the United States and parts of Canada to attend lodge activities.  Mary Jane was very active in Beta Sigma Phi sorority for over 50 years, where she made lifelong friends. She was also secretary of the Kalispell Community Concert Association Board for several years in the 1960s.

Mary Jane was preceded in death by her husband, James Wallace “Wally” Bergmann; her father, Harry Petram; mother, Ruth Sales; stepfather, Albert Sales; and brother, Bill Petram. She is survived by her two children, Ruth Levin of Aurora, and Roger Bergmann of Las Vegas; two grandchildren, Tali Levin-Myers and her husband Kurt of Aurora, and Jeremy Levin and his wife Aneta of Spaldwick, Cambridgeshire, England; five great-grandchildren, Zak Levin of Hayward, Calif., Reece and Lindsey Myers of Aurora, and Sophia and Alexander Levin of Spaldwick, Cambridgeshire, England; and many cousins, nieces, nephews and their families.

The family is being assisted by Neptune Society Funeral Home, and Colorado Crematory.

Memorial service for Mary Jane Bergmann will be scheduled later, to take place in Kalispell during the summer months.