Written by her granddaughters, Arlette McFadyean & Shan Bergette

Our grandmother died as the result of a car accident about a mile west of Glasgow, MT. She was holding her granddaughter, Cindy Lou Hark and the baby's mother was driving. Cindy's bottle fell to the floor, the mother reached to catch it and swerved into a bridge abutment. The baby's mother was the only survivor. The three of them were en route to a family gathering of the mother's relatives.

So many memories; one favorite is of Grandma Hark sewing on her treadle machine - she could really make that thing whir. We are fortunate to have several quilts and pillows that she made. Whenever we visited [about once a year], she always had Rice Krispie cookies for us. I also remember her making angel food cake. Of course she raised chickens and had her own eggs. She would beat the egg whites BY HAND, almost as fast as the sewing machine treadle. To test if they were 'ready', she pulled a spoon through the center of the bowl. If the whites did not flow back together, it was ready, but to prove it [and to astonish us kids] she would hold the bowl upside down. The whites stayed in place; didn't run or drop! Grandma Hark loved her flowers, especially Bachelor's buttons [really blue ones].

My Grandma and Grandpa [who passed away the year before her] loved playing "Pitch" and every scrap of paper was covered with scores. She almost always lost and vowed to play no more, but was right back at it if he suggested a game! Grandma and Grandpa were huge fans of wrestling. On Saturday afternoons, nothing kept them away from the television. Each had a wooden rocker pulled up to the television, and they were just totally enthralled with the action, cheering on their favorites.

Grandma Hark loved to laugh and she had the most infectious laugh. Whenever she laughed everyone around her did too. Grandma didn't drive so she mostly walked everywhere that Grandpa wasn't going. She always walked looking downward and almost every time she would find a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, etc. She saved every penny she found and her jar of pennies had my name [Shar] on it and I still have them all.

Although we can't see our loved ones' crosses, we understand the pain other families have experienced when we see white crosses in our travels and hope they have found comfort and peace and are able to recall and share the wonderful memories of their loved ones.

April 1, 1891 -
May 24, 1974