He was a general practioner GP (family practice now). Maureen (Moe) and Pat were born in Portland. After his residency they moved to Butte for the summer so my dad could work for his dad and uncles (summer vacation work).  Dad always promised my mom they would never live in Butte.  They never left.  I was born in Butte while they still lived with my grandparents.  Dad was an outdoorsman.  Grew up hunting and fishing, didn't like to leave Montana much and also felt he couldn't be too far from his practice.  He practiced with his father and uncles for awhile but he had a hard time accepting their "old fashioned" medical ideas.  He picked up a lot of odd jobs in medicine so he could pay the bills.  

He was the county doctor and also the doctor for the Union Pacific RR.  The RR job got us free passes in coach mom and all of us road the train every summer to Omaha.  A two day affair with a train change in Ogden, Utah.  I have very fond memories of riding the train...it was the end of an era in the sixties.  Dad never went to Omaha with us (maybe once but didn't stay the whole time).  

The summer of 1966 we got back from Omaha and he had been suffering from what he thought were sinus headaches.  Turned out to be a brain tumor.  At the time, they thought it benign so they removed it (twice, actually).  His surgeries were in Portland as Montana didn't have neurosurgeons.  Our parents were gone on and off for about 12 months, my dad's family picked up the slack.  He was one of seven and all but one still lived in Butte.  It was a nomadic life but as a kid, you don't know any different.  The only treatment beyond surgery was an early form of radiation called Cobalt.  They went to Billings for that.  He died in Butte on June 5, 1967.  Life was never the same.....Moe was 13, Pat 12, ME 10, Jo 8, Mike 6 and Willie 4...

received letter from Katherine Farrell (County Cork) in March 1998159

The reasons mom moved us from Butte, she wasn't "from" there, and that means a lot in Butte, she was 44 and very attractive - hit on by several of dad's married friends, their friends were his friends, not hers.  She had made several of her own friends through competitive tennis.  The Anaconda Company was shutting down operations in Butte and moving to Tucson, the husband of one of her friends was transferred and mom visited them in Tucson in 1968 and 1969,  All of a sudden, she bought land, built a house and moved us to Tucson (1970).  Moe, Pat and I were not happy.  We had a tough transition to "city" life.  But it was the best decision she ever made.

omahamarriages.wordpress.com/rn-rz/
RUTHER, Mary Anne; 29; md. William E. KANE; 27; Dec 1952 A22681

Mary Anne Kane, 84, died peacefully on February 7, 2008. She is preceded in death by her husband, William Edward Kane, her granddaughter Elizabeth Katherine Kane, her brother John Joseph Ruther and her son William Joseph Kane. May they all be at peace together.

Mary Anne is survived by her children Moe, Patrick, Mary Ellen (Steve Camferdam), Jo Anne and Mike (Christie) and eight wonderful grandchildren; Rick, Michaela, Nick, Billy, Logan, Parker, Chad and Mackenzie; sisters-in-law Lorraine Ruther, Frances Campeau (Luke), Patricia Kane, Sheila Torpey, and a multitude of nieces and nephews.

Mary Anne was born in Beaver, Iowa on May 27, 1923 to John and Veronica Farrell Ruther and grew up in Iowa and Nebraska with her younger brother, John. She graduated from Onawa High School (Iowa) in 1940 where she was active in stage productions and played the clarinet in their award-winning band. She maintained close contact with her circle of high school friends for the rest of her life.

Mary Anne earned a BS in nursing from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing and Creighton University in 1947. She entered intending to become a stewardess (nursing was a requirement) but fell in love with the work in the operating room and subsequently joined the Creighton faculty as a nursing instructor. During her years at Creighton, she was a gifted scrub nurse, a talented dance partner, an avid tennis player and, she herself admitted, a clotheshorse, but one with a great sense of class and style. Close friendships forged “in training” endured until her death.

Med student Bill Kane fell for her and succeeded in convincing her to change careers. They were married in Omaha on December 27, 1952 and settled in Bill’s hometown of Butte, Montana after he finished his internship. In 1967, Bill died at age 42 after a year long battle with brain cancer, leaving Mary Anne with six children, ages 4-13, to raise on her own. She relocated to Arizona in 1970.

When her youngest started junior high Mary Anne decided to return to the OR. She completed the Registered Nurse refresher program at Pima College, and then waited for an OR position at Carondelet St. Joseph’s Hospital to become available. Her favorite place to work was in the “cysto” room. She was active in the local Association of Operating Room Nurses until she retired in 1992 at the age of 69.

She rediscovered tennis after her children were born and won the Butte Doubles championship in 1965. She loved to watch Billie Jean and Chrissie play. She was an ardent and talented gardener whose favorite flowers to grow were roses and iris. Mary Anne loved Disneyland and was a regular visitor. Her favorite rides were the Matterhorn and Pirates of the Caribbean. She remained active and involved in the community, volunteering to cook for her sons’ football camp at Salpointe, mentoring Boy Scouts, and playing as much tennis as possible. She also maintained close ties with her Farrell cousins who had gravitated to Arizona - Mary Pat Dvorak, Robert Dahlquist and Mary Margaret Farrell, and her best friend from nursing school, La Vera Granity.

Mary Anne’s retirement coincided with the onset of health issues. It was a difficult time for her to endure and for those that cared about her to witness. We offer thanks to everyone at Carestone for their care, and to Peppi’s House, TMC’s Hospice, for the comfort they provided for Mary Anne in her final days. We respectfully request that in lieu of flowers friends consider donating to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation at www.parkinsons.org <http://www.parkinsons.org>;, to Peppi’s House at TMC, or to the charity of your choice in Mary Anne’s name. We also hope to establish a scholarship in her name at the Creighton University School of Nursing.

Viewing will be Monday, February 11 at 6PM with a rosary to follow at Adair Funeral Home-Dodge Chapel, 1050 N. Dodge. Funeral Mass will be Tuesday, February 12 at 10AM at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, 1375 S. Camino Seco.160