Dolores "Terry" Van Hoy

Dolores “Terry” (Bechard) Van Hoy, 84, completed her “life sentence” May 20, 2018. Did you ever feel like a speck of dust surrounded by a vast amount of nothing? We did today with her passing at Eunice Smith Home from Alzheimers as our planet Earth orbited around a minor sun just 90 million miles away in a Universe so vast it can only be measured by billions of stars, miles, and years where you could not survive for a second without billions of dollars worth of equipment around you…What a place? What a feeling? We prayed that Dody (to her Mom, Dad, and Sisters), Aunt Dody (to nieces and nephews), Terry (to friends and classmates), Honey (to husband), Mom (to sons), and Grandma (to three grandchildren) will be greeted by our forgiving, merciful maker who will bless her coming as we here grieve her going. Amen. She was born in Great Falls, Montana, April 19, 1934, to the late Vernon and Rose (Rusick) Bechard. It is said, “a falls gives off it’s spray.” If so, she was a nice one. She graduated in 1952 from Great Falls High School. She was an active and popular student who leaned her life-long hobby –sewing; and she learned the secretarial skills to have a happy, productive working career. She had the lead role in the traditional senior play for 1952. It was a happy time. She met her future husband in 1953. He was coming to Great Falls Air Force Base to a new Wing and she was going to Denver for a new job. Three years they went their separate ways. He took his discharge in 1956 and went to Illinois to teach. She returned home in 1957 to help her sick mother. He came back to visit “career officer buddies.” They met again which led to their wedding in Great Falls on August 23, 1958. The following nearly 60 years were children, work, schooling, grandchildren, vacation and retirement. Happy times again. Terry loved her family. Her sons’ activities were always first and those of her grandchildren were the “icing on the cake.” Her class reunions were a bright light that she looked forward to every five years. The 1952 Class Reunions were a “class A event” created by love, respect, and sincerity. The “Spray of the Falls” fell truly on the Class of 1952 as it took a leadership role in the City and State. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister Virginia and her husband, Larry Enloe. She is survived by her husband, Clarence, her two sons, Mark of Alton, IL and Vern (Laurie) of Alton, IL; three grandchildren, Todd (Jill) Van Hoy of St. Louis, MO; Megan Van Hoy of Charleston, South Carolina; Lt. (JG) Scott Van Hoy of Corpus Christie, TX; and a sister, Beverly (Len) Dusek of Great Falls, Montana. Cremation has occurred and no services have been planned at this time. Memorials may be made to “Christmas in July for Community Christmas” 4512 N. Alby Road, Godfrey, IL 62035. Gent Funeral Home in Alton is in charge of arrangements. Online guestbook and information may be found at www.gentfuneralhome.com

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Dolores "Terry" Van Hoy

April 19, 1934 - May 20, 2018