Mary Lou Wilks

Mary Louise (Farrington) Wilks died on June 20, 2019 in Plains, Montana. Mary Lou was born to E.W. and Mary Ellen (Henry) Farrington on April 29, 1939 in Three Rivers Michigan. In 1946 she moved to Paradise, Montana with her parents and two brothers. She attended schools in both Paradise and Plains. Several times she raised and showed a variety of animals at the Sanders County Fair when she was in 4-H. She graduated from Plains High School in 1959. She married Robert L. Wilks in August 1963. In 1979 she returned to Plains, Montana to be closer to her elderly parents and two brothers. Mary Lou had many varied careers throughout her life; being a Licensed Practical Nurse, cooking, a nanny in New York City, working two jobs in Glacier National Park, driving a pilot car with road constructions crews all over Montana, and being a Foster Grandparent in the Plains schools. In 2014, when mom was 75 years old she was interviewed by a KPAX television reporter as she reached her 7,000 hour as a Foster Grandparent in the Plains schools. She was thrilled to see the kids she mentored improve and understand a difficult math concept. Mom thought that she should have gone back to school to become a teacher, as she loved helping the fourth grade students. She was very active for several decades in both of the Plains and Paradise Methodist churches. Her many hobbies and interests were bowling, cooking, baking cakes, painting, fishing, camping, gardening, the visual and performing arts, travel to Brazil, going to country music concerts, and watching the wildlife in front of her home near Plains. Mom was a very giving, caring, gentle woman who gave all of herself to everything she accomplished in her life. She loved her family very deeply, encouraging and supporting all of her children in everything they were doing. She was devoted to living a life that was full, challenging, and loving. She smiled and laughed as often as she could every day of her life. She had such a very strong faith that was unwavering even in her very difficult and painful final days of life. Mary Lou was preceded in death by her parents, Eugene Ward Farrington, and Mary Ellen Farrington, a young daughter, Theresa, and her husband Robert L Wilks. She is survived by her brothers Ed Farrington (Thompson Falls, MT) and Harold Farrington (Thompson Falls, MT), her four children; Douglas Wilks (Plains,MT), Donald Wilks (Columbus, GA), Ronald Wilks (Polson, MT), and Deborah Wilks (Yuma, AZ). Her ashes will be buried along with her mother’s (Mary Ellen Farrington) at the Plains cemetery on Friday, June 28, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.

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