Charlotte Alberta Matkin Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Charlotte Alberta Matkin passed away early Saturday morning while in the Genesis Nursing Facility for only a short while. She was born on December 12, 1925 in Bigfork, MT to Rachel & Tom McEvoy. She was one of six children, all of which were delivered by a midwife at their log cabin home. It was Charlotte's Great Grandparents, Carl & Inger Rost, that were the first settlers in the Swan River and Charlotte's Great Uncle, Ludwig (Happy), was the first white baby born in the Flathead Valley after Montana became a state. After growing up (picking and selling strawberries from the family farm to the people in Bigfork) among all the other normal farm chores; Charlotte then went to Fullerton, CA to help with the WWII effort by assembling war planes in a factory there. Upon returning home to the Swan River Valley, she became the only one of her siblings to go unto college and graduate from the College in Dillon receiving a degree in teaching. She met Loren R. Matkin, home on leave from the Seabees, in Columbia Falls at the Blue Moon Dance Hall. They later married in the McEvoy family home on Christmas Day, 1947. She then used her degree by teaching all twelve grades in a single room classroom in Somers, Camas Prairie and in Rollins. While in Kalispell, they had their first two of three children; Gary L. Matkin and Laurie A. (Matkin) Cook. Later her husband, working for the Montana Highway Dept. in bridge engineering, was transferred to Superior and then to Miles City and lastly to Butte, MT where they had their last child, Roberta C. (Matkin) Lord. Charlotte & Loren accepted the Lord at a Lowell Lundstrom Crusade in Nov., 1972 and immediately were baptized and became faithful members of the Floral Park Baptist Church (until his death in 1997 and now hers) where Loren served as an usher and she was the Church secretary for awhile. She also was an Avon Lady whereby she was in the Presidents' Club (most sales) for numerous times and stayed with Avon for over 15 years. She was an avid seamstress and was called upon on several occasions to make wedding dresses, evening gowns and draperies for homes. Later on she went on to do embroidery work and crewel embroidery which she enjoyed immensely; giving away most of her work as gifts. Charlotte & Loren were married close to 50 years (his passing was in March of the 50 yr. mark) but she held a celebration of their life of 50 years together anyway on December 25, 1997 in their home of approximately 42 years on 1815 Whitman Ave. in Butte. She later married Bill Robb and they would summer in Wasilla , Alaska (where they would deep sea fish for halibut and also fish out of the Copper River for salmon) and spend their winters in Arizona. This marriage ended after five years whereby she came to live with her daughter, Laurie Cook, for the last ten and one half years until May 30, 2016 when she went to St. James Hospital and later to Genesis Rehabilitation Ctr. Charlotte was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Loren; her daughter, Roberta C. Lord; her parents; siblings: Billy, Jimmy, Sarah Lockwood, Dode Jangula; and her niece, Angela (Matkin) Cotte; son-in-law Stephen Cook. She is survived by her son & daughter in law: Gary & Gloria Matkin of Tooele, Utah along with their four sons and families: Gary Mike & Barbara Matkin, Robert & Souad Matkin, Jeremy & Suzette Matkin, and John T. & Katie Matkin. Also she is survived by her daughter and companion: Laurie A. Cook and her three daughters and families: Courtney & Kody Varnes of Billings, Kodi & Adam Arriero of Eagle, Idaho, and Ashley & Ben Moser of Butte. Also surviving is Roberta Lord's children and families: Elysha & Nabil of Portland, OR and Kirby Lord of Idaho Falls, ID she is survived by numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Also surviving is Charlotte's last living sibling: Peggy Moulton of Illinois. The family would like to take this time to give a great big Thank You to Belmont Senior Center, her home away from home! Also, her dear family at Floral Park Baptist Church; plus all the wonderful people at St. James and Genesis. Thank you for your great care of our dear sweet Mom who never complained about anything or anyone. She was a beautiful woman inside and out. Heaven is opening its doors to truly one of God's greatest daughters--our loss; Heaven's gain. Until we meet again, Mom, we send you off on the wings of angels. We love you forever and ever.

Tributes

Charlotte Alberta Matkin

December 12, 1925 - July 9, 2016