She wrote the following article about her life.
Born in Miles City, Montana July 15,1938. Went thru 2 1/2 years of high school then moved to Billings, Montana.
While in Miles City, visited my aunts and uncles ranches; Chezum Mahaney on Tongue River and James Anderson in Ismay area. My favorite times were at the ranch, we were the only city people and I liked the country. When the country people would go to town I would stay - I thought Mom might make me stay home if I went back. Mostly I spent the summers at the ranches.
I babysat Dick and Betty's children; Teri, Sherm, Jerianne, Barbara and Mary Beth. Betty and I would do laundry and hang clothes on the line in the back of the house. We didn't have much company so at times when the days were hot, we would be in shorts and bras to hang clothes. One day, the gas man came and we didn't hear him arrive till he yelled " anybody home" We ran fast thru the back rooms to put blouses on.
At the Mahaney ranch, (Joe and Grace), Grandma Chezum's sister and brother in law, I mostly just went fishing with Uncle Joe. They lived right by the river, we would go early in the morning and bring catfish home for Aunt Grace to cook. Best breakfast ever, catfish and fried potatoes. We did work in the garden.
Grandma Mabel and Sherm Chezum lived 3 miles away . When I was there , I did more chores for Grandma. We had a big garden and we weeded, picked, helped can. Helped cook for crew, haying and branding, feed chickens and at times, there were horses and cows in the barn to feed or a baby calf to tend to. When I was older, I helped drive the pickup trucks to the fields with lunches for the men. I was cooking for the crew when I was 10.
Of course there was always house chores , sweeping, laundry, churning milk into butter. We always had a lot of free time and followed Granddad Sherm Chezum everywhere. He was a very patient man and always showed us how to do whatever he was doing. We learned a lot at granddad's knee. The small children followed him everywhere.
When we moved to Billings, I didn't socialize much. I mostly walked around the block at night with a girlfriend, Terry Studer, who lived next door. We read a lot; we did get a TV set but I didn't much like TV so still walked and read.
In 1956, Aunt Margaret lived in Anchorage, AK and was getting married when I graduated from high school. She wanted me to come to be her bridesmaid. So Mom and Dad got the money to send me. I first went to Seattle to visit Aunt Gladys and Uncle Chet Richards and their family, Maxine, Mark, Adeana, Dorothy. Aunt Gladys insisted I have a girdle to wear under my gown at the wedding. I tried to talk her out of it but she insisted. I only wore it once.
I stayed in Alaska after the wedding. The plan was to get a summer job and return home by fall to go to teachers college. Margaret was supposed to meet the plane but there was a time mix-up and she sent her landlord's son to get me. Therefore I married the first man I met in Alaska. Turned out Margaret rented room/board from Elsie Coats and so her son Bob was the one that came and got me.
I was job hunting daily and after 2 months I was ready to give up and return home. Woolworth offered me a job and the Post Office offered me a job on the same day; This was in August 1956. I took the PO job as it paid more. Since no one quits the PO at Christmas time, the plan changed for my return home and I stayed another year. Like a lot of people, I was making a lot of money; $665 a month. I didn't have a need for clothes so I saved most of it.
Lots of the Coats friends took me sightseeing . I rode in a lot of small planes, some with wheels, some with floats. There was a float plane lake in the middle of Spenard, near the airport. I really enjoyed the small planes.
Forrest Jones, Margaret's husband worked on small planes at Merrill Field, a small airport for small planes on the other side of Anchorage. Sometimes he took me out to help him with some small project. Of course I thought I was very grown up to help repair an airplane.
I got to do some neat things in AK. Bob's brother, Jack lived in Strelna, a cabin near Chitina. One time, I was asked to go with a photographer and a surveyor to Chitina to help inventory some buildings owned by a man who had died. I was there for a few days.
Chitina is a very small town, maybe 50-60 people. It is on the river and many people come in the summer to fish. At first, when I lived there, we had to cross the river in a boat and drive up to Uncle Jack's cabin. We all liked it there, very quiet. the boys liked to feed the birds leftover sourdough pancakes from their hand. Uncle Jack would take them squirrel hunting and they could not leave the yard without an adult with them. There were many black and grizzly bears in the area. There were claw marks on the cabin where a grizzly bear tried to claw his way into the cabin. We also would see paw marks where one had walked thru the property.
A stream ran thru the property by the cabin and a well. The water temperature was 32 degrees year round. It was the best water in the world; we would always take some bottles home with us.
After the boys got old enough to go to school, Bob would get them off to school and I would go to work early so I could be home when they got out of school. I took some classes at school and worked and kept the house.
I quit the Post office in 1975 and found other jobs; One was secretary For the Performing Art Center. Fancy job. I had the key to the restroom. WOW. The money was very good and the work was fun. Then they closed that area down and I was without a job.
I worked with a health company. I was always a secretary. It was a State job and by the time I was hired , they decided to move the office to Juneau. I didn't want to move so I lost that job.
I worked for 3 years at the Pioneer Home, also a fun job but the old people kept dying and it got to me after a bit. I was going to divorce Bob at the time and found a job with Kruyne and Wendt Real Estate CO, owned by Bob Rink. I felt I could work there for 6 months and move back to MT.
When I took in my resume, Bob was on the phone so I sat quietly while he finished the call. I heard him say to the person on the phone " I think the job has been filled". Since I was the only one there and he was reading my resume while I waited, I thought I had just been hired and that was true. It was the best job I ever had. Bob taught me all I wanted to know about the business and before the week was over, he had given me a $1.00 an hour raise. We have been in touch always. He is a good friend
We became friends and we and another friend invested in some property on a lake in Wasilla. When he would leave for the day to go work on the property, I would run the office. It worked out well. Once, when I was there alone, I got a phone call and the person said they wanted to speak to the person in charge. I told him "that would be me:".
When in AK, I learned to downhill ski. Both Rick and Bob liked to ski and my friend Betty Vogt would take them skiing. We would play cribbage while they skied. A ski instructor talked us into taking lessons. I fell in love with Karl the instructor. Of course he was young but handsome and a very good instructor. Betty did better at downhill than I did. Then we both took up cross country and we both liked it better. When the boys could drive themselves, we could go skiing right in Betty's backyard as she lived by a park. We also went to another park with small hills and bridges to cross. We did enjoy that.
TRIPS I HAVE TAKEN:
Canyon De Chelly in NE AZ, on an indian reservation, near the town of Chinle. It is formations and pueblos. The only ways in is guide with a mule or ride in a open-air truck with others thru the center of the river. We chose the truck route, several trucks travel together in case one gets stuck.
The cliffs are very high and it is amazing how the Indians got to the pueblos from the top of the cliff. When Kit Carson was rounding up and shooting the Indians, he would shoot across from the pueblos and ricochets the bullets into the houses. A beautiful area and I recommend going there. The lodge is great with food. Indians were friendly.
FUJI:
Joe bought a resort Pacific Harbor on the Island of Fiji and Carolyn and I went over to help him open it. The natives are very friendly and within 2 days the hotel staff knew all our names and what our plans were for the day.
One trip was to a real Fijian Chief's lodge on another island. We took gifts of tobacco and kava to him. we were invited into the lodge with 6 male Fijians waiting for us. We were told where to sit. We sat. Since it had only been 70 years since cannibalism ended, we were not sure if we were going to be lunch (not really).
It was a few minutes before the chief mentioned us to bring the presents forward, which we did. Joe took them and handed them to the chief. Chief accepted them and motioned him to return to his seat. In about 5 more minutes, all the Fijians stood up, clapped their hands and shouted something. Gifts accepted, we were taken out of the lodge and showed around the village.
We also went on a catamaran trip to Stewart Island for a picnic which the lodge made for us. One of the girls on staff came with us. She was barefooted and climbed the slippery rocks like a mountain goat. She was gathering a small shell fish the crew ate on the way home. She found a sea snake curled up in a rock and showed us the snake.
When we went into the dining room in the evening, the band always played " It's going to be a bright sunshiny day". It rained almost daily when we were there in April.
A lady came to our villa with fresh bread and rolls. YUM !
I returned later in 2000 to visit with Carolyn and the boys. It was in Feb. Their summer was hot and humid. We had a wonderful time. Carolyn and I drove around the island. The first night we stayed at a place which had individual villas on the beach. We stayed 2 nights. It was near where the Fiji water plant is and we met two of the workers from the plant who brought us a steak and lobster dinner. Nice guys; told us about the plant . We did not get to tour it.
AUSTRALIA
First trip there was to visit Joe's Kangaroo plant, one of the other kangaroo hunters showed us around his 3 sheep stations. We saw over 400 wild kangaroo and 60 emus in the wild and this was in the daytime, took 3 days to drive across the outback to see all of his stations. The stations have a high water tower . At night they light a fire under the tower and in the morning you have hot water for showers. We slept in the shearers quarters open air screen porches. They were cool at night for sleeping.
We also went to Kangaroo Island to see fairy penguins; the only place they live is that area of Australia. They only come ashore at night and you have to stay on a patch and have a very dim light to see them. They hide under the houses at night and are very noisy.
The island has made itself self-supporting. There is an emu oil factory, sheep cheese factory and other businesses. They encourage to go to each one. One area is called Incredible Rocks, very interesting rock formations, lots of erosion in the huge rock and sits atop a cliff; gotta watch your step as the cliff is several feet above a boiling sea. No fence to protect you.
Adalide was one stop while there. I had only been to the east side in Sydney before. On our way home from that trip, we got to test run the area where the Olympics were being held. We were told the route and then asked to report about the timing and courtesy of the tram, train. It was very efficient.
Another trip was to the Great Barrier Reef. Rick, Carolyn, Chris were with us. we went to Heron Island at the end of the reef. We were told not to leave the porch lights on at night as it was baby turtle hatching time and the lights distract them. Chris wanted to go out that night and I walked the beach and decided the turtles could not see our rooms. At 2:00am, the door opened, no locks, and a hand reached in and said"No worries, I am turning off the porch light". A couple hours later, Chris returned and all was well.
We went to New Zealand and Chris and Rick bungee jumped off a bridge. I went to the area where they tied their ankles and decided they knew what they were doing and went down to the watch area. Others standing there asked if I was scared for them. I told them I went to see how they were tied and talked to the instructors. All went well. They jumped off and the raft was at the bottom to catch them. Very interesting and they enjoyed it.
We saw Mount Cook, named for Capt. Cook. I fed a kea on the return trip back to Christ Church. It is a wild parrot and I was told, upon my return, that I should not have done that as they peck very hard.
MOROCCO.
Joe, Carolyn and I went to Morocco. Carolyn and I rode a camel there. Interesting market areas and we were told to stay with the guide at all times. We were with a group and one day, the regular guide said his partner could not come that day so to stay very close to him. Usually there were 2, one in front, one in back. He would stop and count heads very often and at one point, two of the girls were missing. The rest of us had to stay in a square and he told us not to move. He went searching. He found them. Someone had come along and told them he had been hired as a guide and he took them down some different streets; soon he tired of the game and went into his house and told them to go find us. The streets are a narrow maze and our real guide found them.
SAINT CROIX, VIRGIN ISLANDS
Have been there four times. Always fun to visit Rick, seen most of the island by now. In 2009, some of the women from the Dive Club would take me to lunch and sightseeing. Rick never took the key to the house as I was always home but I told him to take the key. Didn't know when I would return.
In 2010, I was able to rescue leather back turtles with the Dive Club. Got a good lecture from the wildlife people and got to release one into the ocean. The turtle did not waive goodbye or turn to look back ; she just paddled her little flippers as fast as she could. It was very exciting to be able to be a part of that. They swim for two days to get far from the shore before they stop to eat. They can dive to 400ft and are seldom seen swimming in the ocean.
SISTERS, OR
Quilt festival held in Sisters, OR the second Saturday in July. One day only;a town of 500 people has 20.000 come to the festival. Quilts are everywhere, hanging out of store, barn, house, windows, hanging on statues in parks.
The other businesses are open but they encourage people to visit the quilts shops and tour the town. AWSOME!!
MERCHAI FESTIVAL
First weekend in April, in Tucson AZ. The music, colorful costumes are wonderful. Everyone gets happy. You want to dance in the aisle.
I was blessed by Pope John Paul II when he visited Alaska in the 1970's.
I have a wonderful family and had a happy life.
MABLE INEZ LEE.
Written by Joe lee.
I feel that I would like to share some things about Inez that you may not know, and some of the great memories of her. I will give you some of the things that I recall about her and some of the times that I was able to share with her.
The first thing that comes to my mind is when she started school in the first grade. For reasons that were never found out, she did not want to go to school and Duane Pinkham and I had to drag her to school, which was about four blocks away.
When she entered high school as a freshman and I was a senior, she was required to polish my shoes for one week as part of the hazing we did in those days.
She graduated from high school and got on a plane at 17 years of age to go to Alaska to spend time with her mother's sister, Aunt Barney. She got a job at the post office in Anchorage , got married about ten years later. She was known as the nicest "nixey" sorter at the PO ( sorting the letters that other people could not make out the addresses). Spent about 18 years there while raising two sons, Rick and Bobby.
Not sure it was the post office influence or what but she became the greatest "email" writer using snail mail in the world. She would write an average of five letters a day and, as a result was the communicator with the entire family. She was blessed with the birth of a granddaughter, Cimarron and as a ritual would take her to the "Nutcracker Suite" each year at Christmas time.
The most outstanding thing that I can remember is that I don't think she ever had a bad thought about anyone. If she did, it never passed her lips in my presence. I can't think of anyone she met that she did not like and verso-versa.
She loved to travel and after our parents passed away, they left us some money that She, Carolyn and I decided to use to travel to places that we had not been before. The places that I remember are, Morocco, Gibraltar, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia and New York where we ate lunch at the "Windows of the world", in the world trade center. One trip, for her birthday, she and I traveled through three large sheep stations in Australia that took us three days by car. We stayed in the shearing quarters, which were almost Motel 6 standards , with a little soap water and elbow grease. We were guests of one of the largest sheep raising stations in Australia. She loved to go to St. Croix to visit her son Rick after she had her surgery. Rick would make sure she had lots of the cream Rum to try to put weight back on her.
When her cancer was discovered, I believe her decision to have the surgery was to buy some extra time to spend with her great grandson Vincent, whom she adored. She knew the surgery was only an extension of time for her but did not slow her down as she continued to travel and spend time with Vincent.
She is now at peace and with our Mom, Dad and her sister Carolyn. Her last wish was to be cremated and to be spread
" Where the antelope roam" .
In lieu of flowers , please make donations to:
St Laure Indian School
PO Box 216
Ashland, MT 59003-9989
or
Nature Conservatory
Attn Jack's and Isaac's Bay
Turtle Rescue Program
3020 Estate Little Princess
Christen stead, USVI 00820
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