Margaret Monica Gesek, 72

COLUMBIA FALLS, Mont. - Margaret Gesek, 72, died on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008, in Kalispell Regional Hospital. The cause of death was a stroke. Her son and daughter were at her side at the time of her passing. Margaret was born Aug. 4, 1936, in Dover, Del., the youngest of three daughters to Dauphin D. and Marie (Kennedy) Wharton. She graduated from Dover High School in 1954, and from Stratford College in Danville, Va., in 1956. She returned to Dover, Del., where she worked for the state government. She married Wayne Shanahan of Whitefish, while he served as a pilot in the Air Force. A devoted mother, Margaret raised two children in a career military family. The marriage lasted 31 years. Margaret is survived by her husband, Robert Gesek of Columbia Falls; her sisters, Mary Sugrue of Carmichael, Calif. and Dauphine Palenski of Dover, Del.; her daughter, Mary Shanahan of Santa Barbara, Calif.; her son, Tom and daughter-in-law Irena and granddaughter Fiona Margaret Shanahan of Galloway, N.J.; stepdaughters, Diane Delaney of Missoula, and Patricia Merlot of Federal Way, Wash.; and stepson, Bobby Gesek of Great Falls. Services were held 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008, in Saint Richards Roman Catholic Church in Columbia Falls. The family requests that donations be made to St. Jude's or their local food bank.