CLAYTON MEJIE obituary

LIBBY - Clayton "Clayt" Irwin Mejie, 83, of Libby, formerly of Hogeland, died Monday, July 25, 2005, at a Libby care center of natural causes.

A memorial service was held Saturday morning at American Lutheran Church in Turner with the Revs. Rowlie Hutton and Jack Siemens officiating. Inurnment with military honors was held at Wing Cemetery.

Clayt was born Jan. 25, 1922, in a squatter's shack in Tweet to Lottie Mae (Davis) Ward and Ernest Mejie. From the time he was 3, Clayt lived with his Aunt Rose and Uncle Clayt on the family farm near Hogeland. He was baptized and confirmed at American Lutheran Church in Turner. He attended Wing School and graduated from Turner High School in 1941.

After graduation, Clayt worked for the railroad for six months and then took a job offer at the local grain elevator. He joined the U.S. Navy on Dec. 9, 1943 and served as a shipboard machinist in the South Pacific and at Japan. Upon his discharge on Dec. 22, 1945, he returned to Montana to work for Lewiston Construction in Great Falls. After three months, he returned to make his home at the family farm. A companion, Jennie, moved to the farm in 1976. He sold the farm in 1990 and they moved to Libby.

Clayt loved horses and rodeos in his youth.

He was preceded in death by Jennie; brothers, Eddie Mejie of Havre and Frank and Neil Mejie, both of North Dakota; and sisters, Louise Edwards of North Dakota and Barbara (Ward) Clayton of Leander, Texas; parents, Ernest Mejie of Turner and Lottie (Davis) Ward of Austin, Texas.

Survivors include his brothers, Wayne Lawrence of Oregon, Jimmie Lawrence of Gonzales, Texas; sister, Mary Wallace of Oregon; sisters-in-law, Mrs. Eddie Mejie and Bonnie Keeley, both of Havre; and several nieces and nephews in Havre, Mesa, Ariz., and Belgrade.