Obituary - Audrey Hawley Beck

Our amazing mother, Audrey Hawley Beck, left her loving family for her next big adventure on May 21, 2015, one day before her 91st birthday.

Audrey was born May 22, 1924, to Nykee (Jim) and Florence (Morris) Hawley, in Harlem, Montana, the second of five children. She graduated from Harlem High School and Northern Montana College with a degree in cosmetology.

In 1944, she married Ray Harris and moved to California, where her first two children, John and Bonnie, were born. In 1950, in Havre, she married Mark Whalen and had three more children, Beth, Terry and Blythe

Audrey owned and operated Audrey's Highland Beauty Salon in Havre and taught at Dahl's Beauty College in Great Falls. At age 49, she fulfilled a lifelong dream and moved to Alaska, where she worked on the Alaska Pipeline. While there, she met and married Irvin Beck, a fellow Montanan. They had 18 wonderful years together, until Irv's death in 2001.

Audrey then moved to Butte, Montana, bringing immense joy to her family. At age 89, she traveled to Germany and Paris, which she described as, "Revitalizing!"

Audrey was preceded in death by her parents; her sister Phyllis Anderson; her husband, Irvin Beck; her brother Granville Hawley; her niece, Claudine Counts; and her nephew, Sanford (Mick) Hawley.

Survivors include her brother and sister, Cranston (Jesse) Hawley of Harlem, Montana, and Dallas (Joe) Stoetzel of Belgrade, Montana; her children, John Harris of Bay Point, Calfiornia, Bonnie Harris (Laura Bottger), Anchorage, Alaska, Beth Whalen, Puyallup, Washington, Terry (Barbara) Whalen, Medford, Oregon, Blythe (Dan) Hawthorne Ellensburg, Washington, and her stepdaughter, Carrie (Todd) Day, Anchorage, Alaska; as well as her beloved grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchild, nieces, nephews, friends and extended family.