MARGARET MCNAIR obituary

INVERNESS - Margaret (Warhank) McNair, 92, of Rudyard died peacefully Sunday, March 26, 2006, at Benefis East in Great Falls.

A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Inverness. Burial will follow at the Inverness Cemetery.

Margaret was born Dec. 2, 1913, at Rudyard to Michael and Anna (Popish) Warhank. She grew up in the Goldstone community and received her education at Rudyard, graduating from R.H.S in 1933. Margaret continued her schooling in Havre, where she enrolled in a course for nurse's training at a Havre hospital.

She eventually traveled to San Francisco and took a job at a tuberculosis sanitarium. After the outbreak of World War II, she worked for the Army quartermaster at Oakland, Calif. In 1946, Margaret returned to Montana to help care for her ailing father.

She married Dorcie V. McNair on July 19, 1947, at Goldstone. In their early married years, they lived in Rudyard, Devon and Hamilton. In 1958, they moved to Inverness, where they made their home the rest of their married life. Dorcie worked as a mechanic and farmer. Margaret enjoyed her role as a homemaker and mother of three, and worked part time as an Avon representative. After her children were all in high school, she began working as a nurse's aide at the Liberty County Nursing Home in Chester. Dorcie retired in 1981. The McNairs had been married 37 years when Dorcie died on April 7, 1984.

Margaret continued to work at the Chester rest home until she was 80. She loved her job there and was well-known as a very caring and compassionate employee. After she officially retired, she still came to the nursing home to help with patient baths and to teach bathing techniques to the new aides. She often said that “she was older than most of the residents that she cared for.”

Margaret remained in Inverness until 1998, when she moved to the Eagles Manor in Havre. She lived there for four years, then transferred to the Eagles Manor in Great Falls. In March of 2005, Margaret suffered a heart attack, so she moved to the Benefis Skilled Nursing Care Facility.

Margaret was raised in the Catholic faith and remained a life member of the Sacred Heart Church and Altar Society in Inverness. Other memberships included the Elks and Eagles clubs in Havre.

Margaret and Dorcie loved to dance and seldom missed an opportunity to do so. Margaret continued to be active at community dances and events for many years following Dorcie's death. In addition, she loved to take frequent junkets to Jackpot, Nev. She looked forward to these trips, not just as a fun escape, but also to renew friendships with fellow travelers and casino workers she met throughout the years.

Margaret's other hobbies included gardening, sewing and playing cards (especially solitaire). She loved working in her kitchen, mainly baking bread, making homemade noodles, or manufacturing handmade soap. In her younger years, she enjoyed singing with her sisters. During her retirement she took a memorable cruise to the Mexican-Riveria.

Margaret was preceded in death by her husband; parents; grandson, Jason Killion; brothers, Raymond and Carl Warhank; sisters, Barbara McCann, Esther Earls and Wilhelmina Patrick.

Survivors include her children, Garth (B.J.) McNair of Butte, Tim (Patty) McNair of Girard, Kansas, and Marlene (Jerry) Killion of Great Falls; six grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and numerous nephews and nieces.

Arrangements by Rockman Funeral Chapel, Chester.