Mildred Irene Scharfe, Milly with a 'y,' passed away peacefully at the age of 97 at St. John's Hansen Cottage in Billings on September 5th, 2017.

Milly was born on July 23 ^rd 1920 in Boulder, MT to Lester and Ina McNeil. At the age of 9 she moved with her family to Havre, MT. She graduated from Havre High School where she was a cheerleader for the Blue Ponies and dated the handsome basketball and football star, Ken Scharfe. Milly and Ken were married on December 5 ^th , 1941, two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.   Ken then joined the Army Air Corp and served in WWII. Milly was able to be with him at several of his duty stations. When Ken was discharged from the Army in 1946 they moved back to Havre, MT where Ken worked for Ryan Havre Wholesale (Super Valu).

Shortly after settling in Havre their first son Dick was born and 5 years later son Larry joined the family. Milly enjoyed being a homemaker and raising their two sons. Milly was ever so proud of those boys. She loved getting together with her bridge club friends on a regular basis and the boys knew well enough the food Milly prepared for 'the girls' was off limits to them. She was involved with the activities of First Lutheran Church and after the boys were older she went to work at Patterson's clothing store, then later she worked in the bookkeeping department at Don's Pharmacy.

In 1973 Ken was transferred to Billings. Once they moved to Billings, Milly worked as a bookkeeper for Gibson's until their closure. Milly and Ken enjoyed their retirement years together until he passed away in 2003. They were blessed to have 62 wonderful years together. Milly loved the time she spent volunteering at the Billings Clinic, she always had a smile and a wave for everyone.   Coffee with the 'girls' was a special time for Milly, she liked her coffee. She was a member of The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd.

Milly was preceded in death by her husband; parents; son, Larry; daughter in law, Carlene Scharfe; three sisters, Marion (Howard) Williamson, Jean (Lloyd) Hovee, and Betty Jondahl; and sister in law, Evelyn (Waldo) Spangelo. She is survived by her son, Dick and wife Vicky Hammond; daughter in law, Marie Scharfe; brother in law, Bob Jondahl; five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren with one more due soon.

Her family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Hansen Cottage on the St John's campus for their patience and kindness and to Nancy Morris for her friendship, weekly visits and many rides to church.

A small memorial service will be held at Hansen Cottage at a later date. Committal service will be at Highland Cemetery in Havre on Monday, September 11, at 11:00 AM.

Memorials may be sent to St John's Lutheran Ministries, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd or charity of one's choice. We love you, Mom! We know you are smiling and excited to meet again with your heavenly family.07