Donna Earlene Boward Wall passed away peacefully at St. Peter\u2019s hospital Helena MT on March 22, 2026. Choosing not to treat lung cancer, Earlene fought but lost the battle after 6 months. Surrounded by family she went to be with her Lord and Savior. Earlene was born in Glendale, California September 23, 1935 to Earl and Mary Boward. She was proud to be named after her dad, her younger sister Marylin named after her mother.<\/p>\n
Earlene had great stories of her life growing up in California. The family moved from Venice CA to Lewistown MT on October 31, 1946. Earl purchased an existing flower shop and named it Boward\u2019s Floral & Greenhouse,and\u00a0 they sold it in 1969. Earlene loved working with the flowers. Earlene attended Fergus County High School, graduating in 1953. She loved the social life of school, music and marching lettering in the Drill Team. She attended Seattle Pacific University for 2 years and Eastern MT College (MSU – Billings).<\/p>\n
In 1956 she met Richard (Dick) Wall in Lewistown MT at the First National Bank where they both worked. Married in 1957 and moved to Thompson Falls, their first home of many! Earlene wanted to be an elementary teacher but instead raised four children. She loved being a mother and put her home economics sewing class to work making many clothes for her kids. She also learned to knit from her grandmother, making numerous afghans and sweaters for her kids. She would proudly say how cute and best dressed her kids were. She was a very good and creative cook and cookie baker. Who else had mashed potatoes on sliced wieners covered in shredded cheese?<\/p>\n
1971 Dick purchased Springhill chicken ranch northeast of Bozeman MT. With lots of work to be done, all 4 of us kids worked on the ranch. Mom always worked hard whether cooking for ranch hands, picnics or daily candling of many eggs. While living in Eugene and Salem Oregon 1978-82 she kept busy picking and canning fruits and vegetables. Also worked at home, sewing shirts and other products commercially for Pendleton company.<\/p>\n
Earlene and Dick moved to Helena in 1982, Dick wanted to be closer to his mother Claire, best friend Boyd Bawden and his favorite Uncle Bill Wall. While living in the Helena valley, Earlene enjoyed gardening, hosting visiting families and always preparing holiday family dinners. Earlene was the owner of The Stitching Corner from 1982 and retired in 2011. Earlene excelled at playing the card game Bridge, she was in several clubs playing weekly for many years. Earlene lived independently at East Park Villa apartments. She had many friends at East Park but met her special friend John Hoerner in 2024, his first words to her were \u201cthere goes my favorite lady\u201d.<\/p>\n
Earlene is preceded in death by: husband of 53 years Dick Wall, sister Marylin Wells, parents Earl\/Mary Boward, daughter-in-law Terri Fetty DeHart Wall and great granddaughter Truette Joyce Tolson.<\/p>\n
Earlene is survived by: daughters Debbie Schaner (Frank), Deanna Ouellette (David) and Wendy Flaherty (Greg) and son Brett Wall. 9 grandchildren, Amanda Hartman, Anna Murnion, Travis Chavez, Austin Ouellette, Bailey Tolson, Rachel Schutter, Daniel Schaner and Trenton Chavez and Jessa Oliver. 19 great grandchildren: Kaylen, Penelope, Lincoln Hartman, Sofia (oldest), Clement, Marco Murnion, Howard, Caroline, Simon Schutter, Wylie, Clancy Ouellette, Tre & Tenley Tolson, Calan & Cylas Oliver, Vera Chavez, Malu, Emjay and Tereza Chavez.<\/p>\n
A Celebration of Earlene’s Life is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., Saturday, April 18, 2026 at Mountain Family Fellowship, 6145 N Montana Ave., Helena 59602.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Earlene-Wall.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Memorial Service","event_date1":"2026-04-18","start_time1":"11:00am","end_time1":"","location1":"Mountain Family Fellowship","address1":"6145 N Montana Ave.","city1":"Helena","state1":"Montana","zipcode1":"59602","event_title2":"","event_date2":"","start_time2":"","end_time2":"","location2":"","address2":"","city2":"","state2":"","zipcode2":"","event_title3":"","event_date3":"","start_time3":"","end_time3":"","location3":"","address3":"","city3":"","state3":"","zipcode3":"","event_title4":"","event_date4":"","start_time4":"","end_time4":"","location4":"","address4":"","city4":"","state4":"","zipcode4":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/32855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}