GENEVIEVE MEJIE obituary

LIBBY - Genevieve H. "Jennie" Mejie, 86, of Libby, died Friday, Jan. 30, 2004, at a Libby care center.

The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Nelson and Vial Funeral Home Chapel with Deacon David Weisbeck officiating. A reception will follow at Christ Lutheran Church.

Jennie was born on July 4, 1917, at Havre to Helen Marcinkowski Doubek and Bartolome "Bart" Doubek. She attended school at a country school near Turner. She attended Turner High School but had to withdraw from school two months before graduation to help care for her newborn twin brothers. She helped with the farm operations and taking care of her mother and brothers.

While on the Big Flat, she met and fell in love with Charles Michael Wagner, a mechanic from Illinois. They were married in 1937. In 1948, they moved to the Warland and Eureka areas. The next year they moved to Libby. Charlie worked for W.R. Grace & Co., and Grace was a clerk at C&H Market. In 1959, Charlie's health began to fail and he died in October of 1961.

Jennie continued to live in Libby and work at the grocery store until moving to Harlem in 1968. She worked at a grocery store in Harlem and later settled into a bookkeeping position at Harlem Plumbing Shop. On weekends and holidays, she drove to the Clayton Irwin ranch near Hogeland to help with farming operations and to take care of them as their health declined. In 1969, she retired from the plumbing shop and moved to the Irwin ranch to assume the role of full-time caregiver. She enjoyed helping the Irwin's nephew Clayton Mejie with ranching operations.

In her early retirement, Jennie enjoyed weekly bowling, reading a good book on cold winter nights, playing cards, and cooking and canning for all who came to visit.

In 1990, Clayton sold the ranch, and he and Jennie moved to Libby to be close to family and friends. Jennie remained fiercely independent in her own home and cooked family meals until suffering a stroke and entering the Libby Care Center in November of 2000.

Jennie was preceded in death by her parents; first husband; sisters, Dorthe Noble and Betty Doubek; and brothers, Velven, Karel, Paul and Clayton Doubek.

Survivors include her husband, Clayton Mejie of Libby; sons, Michael C. (Sandy) Wagner and John F. (Sandy) Wagner, both of Libby; brothers, Leon Doubek of Watsonville, Calif., Ronald and Donald Doubek, both of Libby; sister, Annie Pescatore of Libby; four grandchildren; and six grandchildren.