Lula Ness Hula, 91, passed away Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014, at Brendan House in Kalispell.

She was raised between Columbia Falls and Whitefish. The daughter of a logger and “a saint,” she was the wife to a charismatic husband, mother to four strong-willed children, and Grammy of nine.  

Lu went to school in Whitefish, often riding the wagon into town to sell and buy what was needed. It wasn't a cushy childhood but it was a loving one, with four brothers and three sisters to keep her company.  

She met her husband of 64 years at a dance in Columbia Falls, when she was just 14 and he 15. “That guy’s name is Ed Hula; if you two got married you would be Lula Hula,” and they did in the spring of her 18th year when Ed was home on leave. Being a military bride was hard, and a military mother harder still.  

Lula was at home in the woods, a strong Norwegian woman, proud and tall. Building a home with her husband, winning land with words and then building a cabin too. Her greatest joys were going for firewood and foraging for huckleberries, camping, fishing and driving around this beautiful valley, never taking for granted the majesty of her Montana home.  

Mom to a son and three daughters, her life was full of love and heartache, joys and sorrow as she joined them on their journeys. She raised her children to be independent, strong, hardworking, loving and generous. She didn't always let them know how deeply she loved them but each one held her together, each a part of her. She was a cheerleader helping the family reach their dreams, and a coach telling it like it is. She was a wife, a mother and a poet.  

She was the daughter of Olaf and Pearlie Clark Ness, born in Kalispell in 1922, to Olaf and Emma Annis Ness.

She attended school in Whitefish and Flathead Valley Community College. She married Edward J Hula, in July 1941.

Lula is survived by her son, Ed R and his wife Joan; daughters, Barbara and Jim Wallace, Bonnie and Jim Wilson, and Marna and Ron VanLoo; along with grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. 

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, brothers and sisters.  

“My Grammy taught me compassion and that you have to work for everything in life. Nothing gets handed to you. She taught me words can hurt and they can heal. That the eyes are the windows to the soul and that everyone has a story. I will miss her stories, her love, her hands, her hugs and her voice. Her strength, humility, backbone and her compassion. She was a light in my life.”

Please join us for a memorial service for Lula at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Columbia Mortuary, located at 1010 Fourth Ave. W., in Columbia Falls. An urn burial will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery.