Pam Hillery dies after battle with ALS

Three years after being diagnosed, a prominent local well-known for community, social and political activism has died after her struggle dealing with the effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Pam Hillery died Wednesday. She was 56.

Her husband, Paul Tuss, said he and their children, Dolan  and Caroline, as well as the Rev. Daniel Wathen of St. Jude Thaddeus Church, were at her side when Hillery died in their Havre home, as she wished.

"She didn't want to be in a hospital," Tuss said, adding, "She didn't complain once."

In three years of dealing with decreased mobility and an increasing inability to speak, he said, his wife maintained her positive attitude.

"She, not one minute, was bitter was negative," Tuss said. "She truly was somebody that loved life and knew she could still contribute."

He cited the title of her blog, ""Life with ALS: Each Day is Joyful."

"She really believed that, she really believed that every day was joyful," Tuss said.

She also loved Havre and wanted to do her best to make the community, and the world, a better place, he said.

Tuss and Hillery moved to Havre in 2000 when he took over as executive director of the economic development agency Bear Paw Development Corp. Hillery immediately became active in the community.

"She loved Havre. She loved Havre with all her heart," Tuss said. "She truly was one of those people who thought we all have to do our part to make the community better than it was when we moved here. She believed with every fiber of her being that we needed to contribute."

Along with volunteering and being active in community organizations, Hillery also served on the political side, completing two terms on the Havre City Council and making one unsuccessful bid for mayor.

She continued even after being diagnosed with ALS.

When the council member who served in the seat Hillery vacated, Bonnie Parenteau, resigned in 2014 to move to Helena to be closer to family members, Hillery stepped up again. She served out the last year of Parenteau's term in a wheelchair.

Tuss said that, although he and his children had three years to prepare for his wife's death, the actuality still is hard.

"You know it's coming, but it's always going to be tomorrow," he said.

He added that having three years to prepare did let the family do some things together that probalby wouldn't have happened if they had not known her time left was short.

"We've had some incredible experiences over the last three years," Tuss said.

He also said the outpouring of support in the last day has been great, especially for Dolan and Caroline. People he doesn't even know are calling, texting and messaging, he said, and he answers one and receives seven more.

"I can't keep up with it," Tuss said. " ... It's a good problem to have. I think it shows the impact she had on the community and the world."

Hillery and her fight with ALS became prominent throughout the state, with many newspapers writing stories about her dealing with the disease as well as Hillery starting her own blog and writing several columns submitted for publication.

The title of her blog, "Life with ALS: Each Day Is Joyful -

Living a happy life with ALS; enjoying every second," summarized Hillery's attitude.

Her last blog entry, Sept. 4, said Hillery could not do much any longer, although she went outside for a bit Sept. 3 and saw that her garden still was beautiful, thanks to her daughter and friends weeding it.

She wrote that she mostly spent days watching television programs, reading the Havre Daily News and Great Falls Tribune, getting on Facebook and Words with Friends, Candy Crack and Trivia Crack and, rarely, opening a Nook or Kindle book.

Hillery wrote that the lovely thing was none of those activities required her to speak, keeping her engaged but not engaged.

"This makes me happy enough," she said.