Obituary - Muriel Otto

Muriel Otto, wife of the late William Otto (2012), died nine days before her son, Arthur Edward, on Dec. 15, 2014, in a Kalispell, Montana, care center. She was 94 years old and had lived most of her life in Havre.

She was born and grew up on her parents’ farm near Plentywood, Montana, until she graduated as valedictorian from her Westby, Montana, High School class of 1939.

She travelled to Havre to attend Northern Montana College, where, two weeks before her graduation, she was offered a full-time position as a secretary for the Valley Motor Supply, and she couldn’t turn it down. Later, she worked at the Hill County Welfare Department as a stenographer until she retired.

As a young, unattached beauty, William Otto courted and married her in 1943. They lived in Havre until 2012 when William died and Muriel’s son, Art, took her to live the rest of her days near him in a care center in Kalispell. Muriel died holding Art’s hand, and, tragically, son Art suffered two major strokes and died nine days later.

Muriel was a member of the First Lutheran Church in Havre and was deeply religious. She raised four children, Patty Ann, who pre-deceased her, Arthur (deceased), Barbara (Phoenix, Arizona), and Bill (Omaha, Nebraska). She would line up and scrub her children’s faces for Sunday School, Bible School, confirmation, Luther League and church services, and she insisted that each child learn a musical instrument and practice daily. She proofread every paper her kids ever wrote — as a former secretary, she made sure that spelling and grammar were accurate. She was a very devoted wife and mother.

She was a PTA mom and a Brownie leader and attended every event in which her children were involved throughout her life. She loved her six grandsons and lived to be a great-grandmother.

Muriel’s two sisters, Florence and Dorothy of Plentywood, Montana, pre-deceased her.