Jacqueline Uivary

Jacqueline Uivary passed away October 9, 2025 at Meadowlark Manor in Whitehall, MT.

Jackie was born March 11, 1930 to Earl & Helen Heberling in Northampton, PA. She was an only child for 10 years until her 4 brothers, Jim, Dick, David and Dan were born. During the summers of her childhood, her family tent camped full time at a local reservoir so her father could be closer to his work. It was here that Jackie's love of the water and reading began.

Jackie was a good student and especially enjoyed reading and geography. As an adult she always had an atlas close at hand to find some new town or exotic foreign place.

The summer before her senior year of high school she started dating a young man from the neighborhood, John Uivary. They later would marry, have 3 children and were together for 70 years until his death.

Following high school, she attended nursing school and became a registered nurse. Nursing was huge part of her identity her entire life. After graduating from nursing school she flew to Rapid City where John was stationed with the Air Force and they got married. When his service was finished they went back to Pennsylvania where John attended college on the GI bill. One summer during college the couple, with an 18 month old daughter, drove to Oregon where he worked and they lived in a fire tower with no running water or electricity.

After he graduated and went to work for the Forest Service, they lived in many small towns in Montana and South Dakota where Jackie was often the only person with any medical knowledge. Long before the advent of Google Search, she was the go to source for medical answers. Once, she was called to help a child who had broken a femur in a horse accident. A local rancher volunteered to fly them to a hospital, so Jackie secured the child to an ironing board so they could safely fly the 100 miles to the nearest hospital. During her career, Jackie worked as the school nurse at a residential Indian school and later worked as a public health nurse for the Northern Cheyenne reservation. In Whitehall, she was the public health nurse and school nurse. In Missoula she was an industrial nurse for Champion Lumber. Prior to retiring at 62 she worked at the Park Royal nursing home in Butte.

In retirement, she and John went on extended trips to Vancouver Island and Alaska doing what they loved to do the most, camp and fish. These trips often became an extended family event, and her last trip was a 4 generation salmon fishing trip to Sitka Alaska.

After John died, she moved into Meadowlark Manor where she enjoyed bible studies, book readings and bingo. The family would like to thank Velda and her staff at the Manor for their wonderful care of Jackie. Also her church family for faithfully giving her rides to church and bible studies. Jackie's faith was an essential and central part of her life. We would also like to thank the Whitehall Library ladies who kept mom supplied with fresh books every week. Not an easy job as she often read 3-4 books a week.

Jackie was preceded in death by her parents, 3 of her brothers, her husband John and son Johnny who died at age 17 in an accident. She is survived by her daughter Andrea (Tim) Mulligan, son Mike Uivary (Robert Wisdom), Grandson Matt Mulligan (Jessica Backus), Granddaughter Kate (Mike) Welch and 5 Great grandchildren Annabelle, Evan, Brynn, John and Franklin. She is also survived by her brother Richard and numerous nieces and nephews.

Jackie's memorial service will be held at the Whitehall Zion Luthern Church on Friday October 24th at 10:30 AM.

A private family remembrance will be held at a later date.

Donations can be made to PULSE/Whitehall EMS or to The Friends of the Whitehall Library.