Ione Inabnit

Ione Inabnit passed away on December 23, 2024, in Missoula, Montana. Like her husband before her, Ione passed away surrounded by the love and concern of her family. All who knew Ione will recall that she was not one to keep you guessing as to her wishes. In her final months, she expressed her readiness to reunite with her husband and heavenly father as conversationally as if she was asking to be driven home from a party. Perhaps even more bluntly-telling her pastor that her death was "taking too long." Faith is a beautiful thing and its effects on the mindset of those who hold it is most starkly seen when, like Ione, the faithful can greet death not only unafraid but eager for what is in store.

Ione was the constant, loving, and nurturing matriarch of the Inabnit family. In youth, the beautiful Ione was relentlessly courted by Elden while she was still focused on graduating from high school. She was a firecracker even then who enjoyed ice skating. The two married in 1954 as soon as Ione had come of age and the two escorted each other through the next 64 years of their lives, until Elden's death in 2018. In the beginning, the two lived in a pull-behind camper and these were some of the happiest days of their lives when youth and love were the only things they had to share. Ione bore four children: Teresa, Steve, Shawn, and Tina. Ione gave everything she had to her children. She treasured depression-era glass and collected it any opportunity she had. Nonetheless, she loved her children more and she sold all of her collection in order to be able to afford the horse her daughters were begging for. As a mother, Ione's view of the world was law for her kids and it was known amongst them that the lord above shared each of her views, even on the appropriateness of a 10:00 curfew for her 19-year old first-born daughter. She was her children's protector and, despite her strictness, managed to be her children's confidante and sanctuary.

As a grandmother, Ione's generosity pushed the limits of propriety. One cannot picture Ione without subliminally conjuring the promise of dessert. Ione drank Mountain Dew like it was water. She shared her favorite beverage along with plenty of ice cream, chocolate, and cookies with her developing grandchildren, sending them back to their parents learning what a crash was and discovering the pangs of a migraine. Her children and grandchildren would quickly forget and her house in Butler Creek, with its quietly flowing stream and the drone of humming birds becoming tachycardic on her sugar-infused water, was a favorite amongst her grandchildren and a gathering place for generations of the Inabnit family that always promised warmth, a hearty meal, and a delicious and large portion of dessert.

Ione was also a faithful and dutiful friend. She not only had many friends but also had so many that had been by her side for as long as Elden himself. Her life was made more joyous as she shared its journey, and her faith, with her friends.

A memorial will be held at Faith Baptist Church, 2853 Briggs Street, on January 4, 2025, at 1:00.