MYRON MARRA obituary

SHELBY - Myron Samuel "Sam" Marra, 87, of Shelby, a retired pharmacy owner and businessman, died of natural causes Saturday, Sept. 27, 2003, at a Great Falls hospital.

A vigil service will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. William Catholic Church in Shelby. A funeral Mass will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at the church.

Sam was born in 1916 in Havre to Joseph and Rosa (Lavatore) Marra. He attended St. Jude's Elementary School and Havre High School. After high school, he attended Northern Montana College for 2 years. In 1940, he received a Degree in Economics from the University of Montana where he was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity. U.M. was also the place where he began a lifelong friendship with the late Senator Mike Mansfield.

On Nov. 30, 1940, he married Jeanette Thull at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Havre. During World War II, he served in essential services as an air traffic controller in Great Falls. In 1949, he opened the Marra Drug Store in Shelby. After selling the store to Jack Wells in the mid-1960s, he worked as a sales representative for Newbro Drug until his retirement.

He was a member of the Shelby Elks, the Shelby Jaycees, the Marias Valley Golf and Country Club, the U.M. alumni association, the Shelby Chamber of Commerce, was a 4th Degree in the Knights of Columbus and a past chairman of the Toole County Democratic Party. He also served on the Shelby City Council for many years, and was a 30-year director on the Marias River Cooperative board.

He was a renowned singer in various bands, operettas and in a variety of other venues in and around the Missoula area in the 1940s. He was an avid fisherman as well. He was also extremely proud of his Italian heritage.

He was a beloved father and husband. Sam and Jeanette would have celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary in November. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents and four sisters, Eva Barlet, Antonette Carissimo, Mildred Sturdivant and Francis Neely.

Survivors include his wife Jeanette of Shelby; daughter Rosemary Dean and her children Glenn Dean, Mike and wife Sandy Dean and their children Tanner and Noah all of Shelby; daughter Shelley Marra and Cleo Horner of Great Falls; daughter Kristin Marra, her partner Judith Kaftan and their daughter Rachel of Seattle and son Joe and wife Yungmi Marra and their children Samuel Joseph and Maria Louise also of Seattle.

Whitted Funeral Chapel of Shelby is in charge of arrangements.