Ann Marie Liszak

Ann Marie Liszak died Jan. 22, 2015, at her son Jerry’s home in Bellevue, Wash., surrounded by her loved ones. She was 90 years old. She was born Ann Marie Burner on May 13, 1924, in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Clifford and Marie Burner. She was the older sister of brother Tom and sister Ginny. She grew up in Dayton, where she remembered vividly being a senior in high school and emerging from an afternoon at the movie theater to hear newsboys hawking papers, yelling “Japan Bombed Pearl Harbor.” It was 1942 and “suddenly, life got very, very serious,” and she quickly married Jerry Liszak before he enlisted at Patterson Field as an aviation cadet, and followed him from camp to camp until he shipped out to the war in Europe. She and Jerry had three sons, Jerry, Ron and Steve, over the next six years.

The family moved to Glen Ellyn, Ill., in the ’50s, where Ann was able to have horses, something she had always wanted. In 1962, she and Jerry parted ways and she became a single mother, taking several jobs at a time to make ends meet and eventually starting her own insurance agency. She moved to Evaro Hill, Mont., in 1982 to be close to her son Ron and grandchildren Taj and Kia, where she built her dream home and pet boarding business, Four Footers Pampered Pets, which she owned and operated for 22 years. Ann had an immense love for animals and spoiled every one that she ever met. They all loved her back just as passionately. Although she was a very hard worker for her entire life, she also had a deep reverence for fun and made time to enjoy the most important things, such as taking a leave of absence every summer so she could take her young sons camping and later taking her children and grandchildren on epic trips to Florida, Mexico and Hawaii to lay on the beach and run in the ocean.

Armed with a feisty sense of humor and generous spirit, her home was always open and inviting, and she enjoyed spending time with others, laughing and making jokes more than anything. She said, “A good laugh is like a big hug. It just makes you feel good.” She was an avid volunteer for many places throughout her life, including 20 years at the Missoula Food Bank. She said volunteering helped her keep centered through two painful divorces, the death of her youngest son to cancer at age 20, it and helped her make a great many friends. Her extended family was vast and she was considered “mom” and “grandma” to many.

Young beyond her years, she was known for being an unconventional grandma who would show up at punk rock clubs to see her grandchildren perform. Always adventurous, she decided to move to Whidbey Island, Wash., shortly before her 80th birthday because she always wanted to live on an island by one of her greatest loves, the ocean, and to be closer to her oldest son Jerry. There she enjoyed volunteering at the Oak Harbor Senior Center, taking many fun trips around the area, watching the eagles fly above the ocean from her porch and living independently up until her last few months. She took care of all of us and led our family with her sweet, independent, poetic, cynical, fiercely loving and always-young heart. We cherished her as she cherished us. She will be missed.

She was preceded in death by her son Steve; former husband, Jerry Liszak; and second husband, Pat Savaiano. She is survived by her sister, Ginny See; her son Jerry Liszak and wife Gunniga of Bellevue, Wash.; her son Ron Liszak and wife Martha Kimmich; grandson Taj Liszak; granddaughter Kia Liszak and husband Doug Smith; and great-grandchildren Silas Smith and Caleb and Lucy Liszak, of Missoula, Mont. As per her wishes, a party to celebrate her life will be held on Evaro Hill at a later date this spring.