Eva H. Schutt

HELENA - Eva H. (Swanson) Schutt, 87, of Helena, died Wednesday in Helena following a short illness.
Her funeral is 2 p.m. Monday at Retz Funeral Home Chapel in Helena, with interment in Mon-tana State Veterans Cemetery. Following the interment, a recep-tion will be held at Eva's home at 1529 Missoula Ave., in Helena.
Survivors include two daugh-ters, Jeanne and Janice Schutt; and a son, Jerry Schutt, all of Helena; granddaughter and family Amy, Rick, Sharon and Trevor Dopps, of Wichita, Kan., and granddaughter and husband, Brook and Alan Lynn of Hono-lulu. Eva is also survived by brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Vincent and Inez Schutt of Jack-sonville, Fla.; and three sisters-in-law, Hannah Schutt of Milnor, N.D., and Louise Dulany and Leona Carpenter, both of Med-ford, Ore.; as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Eva died Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009, just 15 days short of her 88th birthday. Recently, Eva resided at Cooney Convalescent Home for eight weeks before returning home to be cared for by her three surviving children. Throughout her life, Eva per-formed remarkably as a typical multi-tasking woman, wife, busi-ness partner, and full time "Mother" to four children and an alpha-male husband.
Eva was born March 12, 1921, in the family farmhouse near Valier, Mont., to Hugo and Olga (Nilsson) Swanson. She enjoyed the good life of a Depression-era farm girl, walking to town for school as a small child, being the focus of some rough attention by her three loving brothers, swim-ming in the irrigation ditch, and helping her Mother with home-making, harvest crew, and farm-yard chores. Eva graduated from Valier High School in 1938, after "saving" her parents and family from the panic of the Orson Wells' "Invasion from Mars" radio broadcast (she had heard the introductory remarks). She then went on to graduate from the Great Falls College of Business and worked in Great Falls for Deaconess Hospital, and the U.S. Army.
When considering her next ca-reer move, Eva told her father, "Dad, I am either going to join the Marines, or move to San Fran-cisco, but I am going to let you make the choice for me." After Hugo quickly responded, "GO TO SAN FRANCISCO!," she moved West, and worked in the Shipping Division of the War Department during World War II. With her three other single female room-mates, she braved the exciting and foggy life of "The City by the Bay."
In 1945, Eva met a dashing Ma-rine PFC (a self described "North Dakota joke"), who was recover-ing from his Pacific Action war wounds. Eva always said of Marvin, "He treated me with more respect than anyone ever had, and still does." Eva soon thereafter became Mrs. Marvin R. Schutt, the wife of a San Francisco ambu-lance and cab driver, as well as the Mother of two baby daugh-ters, Betty Jeanne and Janice Marilyn. After discovering ter-mites in their home, Marvin and Eva made a quick sale of their townhouse and moved with the girls, briefly to Las Vegas, and then to Tonopah, Nev. In Tonopah they managed a small café featuring what became a local favorite: "make you sweat" chili, and lemon meringue pie.
Eva has always been thankful that Marvin's plans, of becoming a gold miner in Tonopah, did not pan out. These failed plans led to the decision to move back home. While they lived in Valier, Mont., Marvin trained as a baker, and Eva delivered their only (and favorite) son, Jerry Owen, after a last minute rush to Conrad. Their move to Sunburst, Mont., brought the blessing of their final child, Neva Lavonne. Neva was deliv-ered after Eva worked a long day (actually, the Opening Day of their new business, The Sunburst Bakery), and after a stressful, bumpy drive to Conrad in a bor-rowed car (their car would not start). Eva and the family made frequent visits to Grandpa and Grandma Swanson's farm, north of Valier, throughout their years in Sunburst (in the bakery busi-ness, in a farm implement busi-ness, and briefly managing the VFW Club). Eva and Marvin resigned from their VFW Club management job, on the grounds of proper role modeling, after a visit from their children's school principal.
1960 brought Eva and the fam-ily to Helena, Mont., which be-came her new lifelong home. They purchased a bakery from Bill and Margaret Anders, and Marvin named it "Eva's Bakery," without asking Eva's advice. She didn't really mind what he had done, but she always recalled, "At the very least, I should have been consulted." Besides this oversight, and many other take-charge mistakes, Eva knew that Marvin continued to respect and to pro-tect her throughout his remaining years.
After the bakery burned down in 1967, Eva helped Marvin in his new occupation, as an insurance agent, by becoming licensed herself, by baking cookies and sweet rolls for their clients, and by assisting with administrative work. Their insurance business took Eva and Marvin all over Montana. At convention times, they traveled to many U.S.A. and foreign destinations. For the rest of her life, besides helping to make Marvin successful, Eva was the perpetual motion machine of loving motherhood and home-making – laboring to supply every need of her four children and her husband.
Eva's greatest joys were all re-lated to giving, communicating, and tracking the activities of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and her many family members and friends. She went to great lengths to remem-ber and acknowledge the special days in the lives of all her loved ones. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her.
Eva was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a daughter and son-in-law, Neva and Richard Rippe; three brothers and sisters-in-law, Clarence and Eleanor Swanson, Harry and Eyvon Swanson all of Valier, Mont., and Harold and Ruth Swanson of Manheim, Pa.
Memorials may be given to The Montana State Veterans Ceme-tery, PO Box 5715, Helena, MT, 59604.
Condolences may be posted online at www.gftribune.com/obituaries.