Ellen Jane O’Connor McGarity, born almost 100 years ago on her family’s ranch in Sioux Pass, Montana, died peacefully in October, surrounded by her family.

Jane lived a life marked by determination, adventure, independence, and an abiding devotion to her faith and family. From an early age, she knew what she wanted—and was not easily deterred.

Jane graduated from Culbertson High School at the age of 16. Eager to begin her adult life, she arranged to leave school a month early to take a teaching job, riding horseback to the little Riverview School outside Culbertson. Her students ranged from elementary school children through eighth grade.

That fall, Jane enrolled at the College of Great Falls, where she initially studied nutrition. She had wanted to become a nurse, but her mother encouraged her to pursue other options. Her freshman year nonetheless became one of her many memorable adventures. Her roommates, Rosie and her sister Alice, made the most of college life.

Their escapades were meticulously recorded on an infamous calendar documenting their various “sneak out” dates. During Easter break, the nuns cleaning the dormitory discovered the calendar. Trouble followed. When Jane and Alice returned to school, the janitor who swept the halls took one look at them and ominously warned, “You gonna get it.” Fortunately, the nuns never told their parents—but Jane and her roommates became considerably more careful.

Jane’s desire to become a nurse never waned. In 1945, she prevailed over her mother’s wishes and enrolled in the nursing program in Great Falls. She spent the next three years living at Ursuline Academy, with only two weeks off each year—time she eagerly spent back home on the family ranch helping with branding and cattle vaccinations.

She graduated from nursing school in the spring of 1948 and began working at Sidney Hospital. Jane wanted to work in an operating room and, perhaps unwilling to settle for an ordinary life, wrote to Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu asking for a job.

Meanwhile, Jane’s mother continued to encourage her to pursue more education. To “placate her mother,” Jane spent one quarter at the University of Minnesota, where she joined the Phi Mu sorority as a pledge, although she later described sorority life as “asinine.”

Then, in March 1949, a telegram arrived from Hawaii: Queen’s Hospital wanted Jane to begin work in two weeks.

Jane quickly arranged her travel—a train home to Williston, then on to San Francisco, where she boarded the Lurline for the five-day voyage to Honolulu. Met by hospital staff upon her arrival, Jane initially lived in the Nurses House built by Queen Liliʻuokalani. She worked in the operating room for 18 months before moving to an apartment with friends located just a block from Waikiki Beach. While working in the operating room, Jane discovered another calling: anesthesia. An anesthesiologist began allowing her to take over during surgeries, and she decided to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist.

She was accepted into the anesthesia program at the University of Minnesota and returned to the mainland, completing her training at Hennepin County Hospital. On her licensing board exams, Jane earned the second-highest score in the country. She was ready for her next adventure. But life had other plans.

During her training, Jane received a predawn call that her parents had been seriously injured in a car accident. Although she could have returned to Hawaii and the life she had loved there, Jane chose instead to accept a position at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Billings so she could remain in Montana and be close to her parents. Her anesthesia career would span more than 30 years—a profession she loved.

And then, Jane crossed paths with Carr McGarity, who was visiting a friend in the hospital. A whirlwind romance ensued, including a chaperoned road trip to New York City. Jane turned down the opportunity to return to Honolulu, and she and Carr married in 1954.

Together they built a family and a life filled with love, laughter, hard work, and adventure. Their children—Peg, Katie, Jerry, and Mary Jane—became the center of their world. A working mother—was there any other kind?—Jane managed her profession, her parents, her home, and her children with joy and apparent ease.

Carr left their lives much too early. After grieving his passing, Jane embraced her next chapter with the same joy, enthusiasm and energy she had brought to everything else. She traveled to England, Italy, Russia, the Holy Land, Croatia, and Alaska. She learned photography and quilting. She became deeply involved in St. Thomas Parish, serving in the St. Rose of Lima Circle and becoming a Secular Franciscan.

Jane was a devoted mother and grandmother and, in later years, a beloved great-grandmother. She was curious about the world and never afraid to try something new—whether leaving a small Montana town for nursing school, sailing across the Pacific to Hawaii, learning to surf, floating the Grand Canyon, becoming a nurse anesthetist, or embracing new interests throughout her life.

She carried the spirit of the Montana ranch where she was born throughout her nearly century-long life: joyful, practical, resilient, capable, adventurous, and deeply rooted in family and faith.

Jane died as she had lived—with the people she loved most close beside her. She is survived by her four children, 11 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren, who were among the great joys of her final years. She was preceded in death by her husband, Carr; her siblings, Kak, Al, Jim, and Peg; and her great-granddaughters Bridgette and November.

We will remember Jane not only for the life she lived, but for the remarkable stories she leaves behind.

A Rosary and Vigil service is scheduled for Thursday, November 5 at 5 p.m. at Michelotti-Sawyers, located at 1001 Alderson Avenue. We will celebrate Jane’s Funeral Mass the following morning, Friday, November 6 at 10 a.m., at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Billings. Those wishing to honor her memory are invited to make a donation to a charity near to their heart in place of flowers.