SELMA CONNER obituary

HARLEM - Selma (Sam) C. Nelson Conner, 91, formerly of Harlem, died of natural causes on Wednesday, July 27, 2005, at the Northern Montana Care Center in Havre.

Crema-tion has taken place under direction of Edwards Funeral Home of Chinook. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the

Methodist Church in Harlem. Burial of the cremated remains will follow at the Harlem Cemetery.

Selma Christina Nelson Conner was born Nov. 13, 1913, to Viola and Ole Nelson in Harlem. Selma grew up in Harlem and attended schools there. After high school graduation she worked in a local Japanese caf.

She married Carl Conner on Aug. 11, 1936, at the Methodist Parsonage in Chinook. Selma and Carl divorced in November 1946.

In 1944, she started working for the J.C. Penny store in Harlem. She moved to Portland, Ore., in 1955. She was employed at Charles F. Berg, a women's specialty store. She started as a marking room clerk and then became head cashier until June 1981. Unable to work due to failing eyesight, she moved back to Harlem, where she lived until 2000, when she moved into the Northern Montana Care Center in Havre.

Selma was a loving and devoted mother, grandmother, sister and aunt. She enjoyed collecting salt and pepper shakers, taking photos, listening to music recordings, feeding wild birds and helping at the Harlem Senior Citizen Center.

Selma was preceded in death by her parents, Ole and Viola Nelson; and sisters, Emma Foote, Vivian Yeoman, Evelyn Nelson, Lillian Upshaw and Lucille Mayer.

Survivors include her daughters, Carole (Dick) Sundt of Rochester, Minn., and Gladys (Tom) Durand of Duck Lake; four grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; several nieces, nephews, and cousins.