Janice Hale White

"My Mother…she is beautiful, softened at the edges and tempered with a spine of steel. I want to grow old and be like her." - Jodi Picoult

Janice Hale White lost her short battle with cancer early in the morning on Saturday, August 12, 2017. She left us the way she lived, with courage, fight and unwavering faith. Jan was born in Red Lodge on April 13, 1936, to James Trythall and Mabel Carlevato Trythall. After living in Red Lodge and Butte, the family of three moved to Billings, where James soon passed away and brother Jim was born. Jan began school at McKinley Elementary, then attended Fratt and graduated from Billings Central in 1954. The friends she made there would become lifelong companions.

While working the summer at Cobb Field, Jan met Larry Hale and they married in July of 1954. They would ultimately welcome seven children into their household. Raising a large family brought Mom such joy. The Hale house was the gathering spot on McBride Street. Mom loved being surrounded by family and spent many hours rolling out dough for ravioli, a tribute to her Italian heritage, and making pasties, which brought back memories of the miners in Butte going to work each day.

In 1976, Jan and Larry opened Fireside Lanes with two other couples, and bowling became a large part of their lives. Mom enjoyed many years of league and tournament travel with her Wednesday night team. The women she bowled with became dear friends who she still got together with regularly.

Jan and Larry divorced in 1993, and, in 1997, Mom took another chance on love when she married Charles White. They spent three and a half happy years together, traveling the country in their Fifth Wheel. Chuck passed away in 2001.

Jan was the definition of the Energizer Bunny. Her packed social calendar included lunch and dinner with her former classmates as well as friends from St Pius, bible study, her Friday night "book club" with another group of treasured friends, and just about every activity her grandchildren participated in. She was always up for a spontaneous outing and just went with the flow. Mom's grandchildren and great-grandchildren were the highlight of her days. Her patience and ability to listen to them without judgement was a trait we could all learn from.

Mom's outlook on life and its challenges was inspiring. Riddled with pain for most of her adult life, she never complained. She had an unwavering faith. She loved her family more than anything and didn't want to leave us, only doing so when her body had no fight left in it. She chose to try treatment because of this love and because she "still had so much left to do." She wanted her friends and family to know how grateful she was for all of the good times she shared with them.

Jan leaves behind her six children, Janelle Oakland, Larry Thomas Hale (Lisa), Carla McCracken (Ron), Christopher Hale, Josh Hale (Dennette), and Jennifer Bodine (Roger); 11 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; brother Jim Trythall (Linda); and several special cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her son, Joel Hale; and husbands Larry Hale and Charles White.

A vigil service will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary, 1001 Alderson Ave. A funeral mass will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 2055 Woody Drive.

The family would like to thank the staff at Billings Clinic Inpatient Care Center and St. John's Transitional Care Cottage. Memorials in Jan's name can be made to St. Vincent DePaul, RiverStone Hospice, or Billings Catholic Schools.