Mary Jo Rasmussen

MISSOULA ~ Mary Joyce Rasmussen, 88, of Missoula, passed away on Sunday April 13, 2025 at home, surrounded by her children. Mary Jo was born on March 10, 1937, in White Earth, North Dakota, and was the tenth of twelve children born to Patrick and Marion Reynolds. She loved school, starting with grade school in White Earth and graduating from high school in Powers Lake in 1955. Mary Jo recalled being taken to school in the winter in a wooden bus on skis that was pulled by horses.

At age 15, Mary Jo learned to operate a local phone exchange in North Dakota and she became a master of the telephone. We all marveled at her ability to predict who was calling on the phone, long before caller ID was invented. Mary Jo went to Chico, California to stay with her sister Jean when she was 19, and began working as a phone operator. She later transferred to the phone company in Missoula and worked there until she started a family.

Mary Jo met Stan Rasmussen in 1957 and they were married in 1958 at St. Anthony Church in Missoula. The family moved to the old Thorton Lumber farmhouse at the Wye, where her father, Grandpa Pat, worked on the farm. Mary Jo raised their five children, and provided care for many children of friends and relatives. She loved to play with children, read books, and sew, and she cooked every meal for the family.

Mary Jo was a Leader for the DeSmet 4-H Club, and she especially enjoyed staging plays for the Missoula Drama Festival. She worked as the Clerk for the DeSmet School for a total of 35 years where she supported the students every way she could. She also worked alongside Stan at Missoula Glass Works, keeping the books and doing small jobs. Mary Jo enjoyed the people of downtown Missoula and was known to play pranks on friends and family members. Her grandchildren were all convinced that she was a Ninja.

Mary Jo is survived by her children Julie Rasmussen, Bobbi Rasmussen, Diane (Todd) Lorenzen, Joe (Ellie) Rasmussen, and Andrea Rasmussen; her grandchildren Courtney (Mike), Joellie (Tyler), Norbert (Seguin), August (Nikita), and Frances (Nathan); and six great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by brothers Bill, Jimmy, Pat, Eddie, Dan, and Earl, sisters Jean, Micki, Viola (infant), Helen, and Kathy, and beloved nephews Dane and Rodney Morigeau. She missed her dear friends Marie, Ann, Helen, Mary, and Betty Jo and many others who will be waiting to greet her in Heaven.

A combined memorial service will be held for Mary Jo and Stan Rasmussen on Friday April 18 at 11:00 at the Sunset Memorial Funeral Home in Missoula.  A luncheon will follow in the Community Room at Sunset Memorial Funeral Home.