Obituary - Virginia Wells

Virginia Wells passed away January 15, 2024, at Northern Montana Hospital in Havre, Montana, of natural causes.

Cremation has taken place, and the family plans on having a celebration of life later this spring or on her birthday this summer.

Condolences for the family may be left at https://www.asperfh.com/ .

Virginia was born July 10, 1939, at the Glasgow hospital to Alice and Percy Shelden. She was the oldest of six siblings. As the oldest child she always took care of the younger siblings and tried to set a good example for them. She graduated from Glasgow high school in 1954 and went on to attend college in Billings, MT.

After college, she would move back to Glasgow where she would go to work at the new Air Force base. At the base one day, she met a man named Kenneth Wells. Over the next few months she would realize that this man would become the love of her life. In the middle of a blizzard November 15, 1959, they would get married. A year later, they would welcome in their life their first and only child, son Russell Wells.

Over the next 10-plus years, Kenneth's job would allow Virginia and her family to travel from Great Falls to Las Vegas and Seattle and then to Yakima Washington. After traveling for Kenneth's union job to many states and cities which they also made lifelong friends and continue to stay in contact with over the years. Ken and Virginia finally settled in Yakima, WA. where she molded into the community and formed a new chapter of the Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority and became president of the Delta Tau Chapter. While community and sorority held a lot of her passion, her second was her job at the Regional Department of Ecology where she worked her way from clerk typist to word processing supervisor.

While attending many of her son Russ's baseball games their first summer in Yakima, Virginia would meet her lifelong best friend Marge Fuller. From that day on, if Virginia was out at garage sales, shopping or even on vacation, Marge was there with her.

After a few years in Yakima, Virginia and Kenneth would buy their dream home on the outskirts of Yakima. The house had a large cherry orchard on the property and an amazing view of Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens. Over the years, she would cherish working with her grandchildren picking and selling cherries every summer, making tons of memories with her friends and family.

After her husband Kenneth's passing in November of 1995 due to cancer, she moved to Hingham, MT, in 1996 to be close to her family. She was well known for being fiercely protective of her family. Didn't matter where or what was going on she was going to be there for all of her grandchildren. Among her family and friends on the Hi-Line, she was known as an avid Democrat and music lover, you could always find her in her car listening to music loud enough for people next to her to hear and smiling ear to ear. She was never afraid to voice her opinion and how she felt about situations and people in her life.

Virginia is survived by her siblings Chuck Shelden, Peggy (Tony) Reum, Sally (Rich) Tokarewski; sister-in-law Shelley Shelden; son, Russell (Susan) Wells of Hingham, Montana; three grandchildren, Heather (Jeremy) May of Bozeman, MT, Jennifer (Ivan) Van Dessel of Joplin, MT, Ryan (Jen) Wells of Spokane, WA; five great-grandchildren, Avalee Van Dessel, Jadi May, Hunter May, Hudson Van Dessel, Brady Wells, and several nieces and nephews and their families.

She is preceeded in death by her husband, Kenneth Wells; sister Patsy Shelden; brother Barry Shelden, and best friend Marge Fuller.

Memorials can be sent to Shriners or Seattle Children's Hospital.