Peggy Joyce Morigeau Collicott
POLSON — On May 6, 2014, Peggy Joyce Morigeau Collicott passed away peacefully in her sleep to the arms of our Creator. Peggy was born April 28, 1929, to John Alphonse and Amy Butterfield Morigeau. As was the custom, Peggy was born at the family home in St. Ignatius, the fourth child of John and Amy.
Stories of mom’s childhood were a source of entertainment for us kids and cousins. Peggy grew up in a huge extended family, with aunties and uncles in the dozens and cousins in the tens of dozens. The Morigeau’s, DuPuis’s, Clairmont’s, Sloan’s, Blush’s, etc. did everything together. If a family vacation was planned it was not just one car going up the road, it was five, ten or twenty in a caravan. Or sometimes a Sunday picnic when everyone loaded up on a flatbed and took off, for parts unknown to the children, until they had arrived. Times were different then…the great depression was cause for many large families to band together for survival.
World War II brought many changes to Peggy’s family and change happened for everyone on the Flathead Reservation. Brother, Benjamin Franklin Morigeau withheld the truth about his age and joined the Navy, as did many other cousins. She and her sister June moved their young families to Seattle and were two of the “Rosie the Riveter’s” we so often hear about, working on aircraft for the Boeing Corporation. After the war, both sisters raised their families on the Yakima Reservation, having found work and housing, which were both slim back home on the Reservation.
In her early 40’s, she made it back to Ravalli with her two youngest children, Pat and Mike. She and older sister June, along with their mother Amy, ran the Buffalo Café. She eventually moved to Polson and worked for many years as the cook for the Polson Senior Citizen Center until she retired for health reasons.
She built a home in the Turtle Lake area, where she lived for 32 years. Her home was her castle and she spent many wonderful hours planting flowers and living life back “home” as she had always dreamed of. She was very proud of her house and yard and devoted the time she had to making it into a place where children and grandchildren came to visit every summer.
Peggy was preceded in death by her parents John A. Morigeau and Amy Butterfield Morigeau; a two year old brother named John “Cyzie” Morigeau who passed away in 1927; older brother Benjamin Franklin Morigeau of Polson; younger sister Paulette Morigeau O’Neil of Polson; son Kirby Lee Hill of West Seattle; and grandson Lester Gene Couture of Ronan.
She is survived by her sister June Marie Morigeau age 91 of Spokane, Wash.; step-mother Phyllis Morigeau-Piper (Hap) of Polson; sister-in-law Diane Morigeau; daughter Lonny Hill of Polson; three sons: Stephen James Morigeau of Seattle, John Patrick Collicott (Kathy) of Polson, and Michael Dana Morigeau (Melinda) of Tehachapi, Calif.; nephew Bobby Morigeau of Alaska; nieces Nancy Morigeau of Whidbey Island, Wash., Sandra Roberts (Wayne) of Deer Park, Wash., and Lorie Morin of Yakima, Wash.
Proudly she adored 15 grandchildren: Lorissa Hill-Row, Justin Morigeau, Nikki Morigeau-Skrabak, Stevie Ray Morigeau, Ashley and Michelle Crowe, Cheney Bell, Amy McKeever (Johnny), Kyndra Vizzerra, Jonathan “Bud” Collicott (Shyla), Alice Couture, Jalen Bell, Kyahna Collicott, Cheyenne Morigeau and Sheridan Morigeau. She will live on through the 27 great-grandchildren and their children thereafter.
A memorial service will take place during the summer of 2014. Grogan Funeral Home is handling the arrangements for the family. Messages of condolence may be shared with the family online at www-.groganfuneralhome.com.
