M. Joanne Verwolf

After a diagnosis of cancer in August of 2022, M. Joanne Verwolf, lost her valiant fight with the disease on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 in Hamilton Montana. She was born March 23, 1947 in Belgrade, Montana, the fifth and last child of Ira and Myrtle Verwolf.

Joanne attended twelve years at Manhattan Public Schools graduating with the class of 1965.  After graduation she began her working career with Bozeman Deaconess Hospital moving on to Idaho, then West Virginia and Alaska in 1976 where she worked at Anchorage, Kenai and Prudhoe Bay.  Her career took her from typewriter to mainframe computers to the laptops of today. In 1992 she returned to Montana to reside in the Bitterroot Valley.  Determined not to be passed over for lack of education, she enrolled as a student at the University of Montana and graduated with high honors majoring in Business Administration.  Employed by Summit Independent Living until she retired, she helped many people connect with resources available to meet their needs.  She also was a driving force to establish the Bitterroot Bus system.

Both Joanne’s maternal and paternal grandparents were pioneers in the Gallatin Valley of Montana in the early years of the twentieth century.  Joanne’s love of research and fascination with her ancestors and local history led her to author a book, Daughters of Montana Pioneers, Gallatin Valley Female Seminary, she recalls her childhood days on the family farm near Manhattan, the site of the historic Gallatin Valley Female Seminary on the Old Stone [Presbyterian] Church place, as it was called.  Extensive research brings this area alive with photos and excerpts from old newspapers and writings.  Published in 2022, Joanne was just beginning to market her book when cancer struck.

Joanne was able to take her mother into her home and manage home care for her several years until her death in 2006.  Joanne also enjoyed her cats, her neighbors, and her life in the Bitterroot Valley outside Corvallis.  She was an active member in the Corvallis United Methodist Church, holding several offices.

Joanne was preceded in death by her parents, Ira and Myrtle Verwolf; brothers, John (Manhattan) and Tom (Wolf Point) Verwolf; and nephew, Cory Christensen (Missoula).  She is survived by her son, Jon LaFloe and wife Robin and granddaughters, Annie and Sarah of Lakewood, CO; sisters, Alice Christensen (Corvallis) and Lena Whitson (Libby); nieces, Joyce Pereira, Tomina Kinzie, Justina Schiff and Amy Reed; nephews, Brent, Jason, Eric, Keith and Zane Christensen and LeRoy Verwolf.

Viewing will be held Sunday, September 15 from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. at the Daly-Leach Chapel.  Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, September 16 at the Daly-Leach Chapel (1010 West Main St.), with a reception following in the funeral home’s community room.  Burial and graveside services will be held at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Bozeman on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 2:00 p.m.  Condolences may be left for the family at www.dalyleachchapel.com.