Marcella M Lindgren

Marcella Mary Ginger Evans Lindgren (88) entered the presence of Jesus on June 19, 2026, in Missoula, Montana. She was born on a farm in Plevna, Montana, on June 29, 1937. She often rode horseback three miles to the one-room schoolhouse on the plains of Eastern Montana.

When she was 9, the family moved to Western Montana due to her mother’s poor health. They lived two years in Snyder, a logging community near Thompson Falls, where her father ran a small grocery. Then they moved to Missoula, to the two-story building at the present-day Higgins roundabout, and ran the Paxson Grocery in the lower level. Marcella attended Paxson Grade School just a block south, and then Missoula County High School (current day Hellgate High School).

From a young age, Marcella dreamed of going to college. In 1961, she graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in History. She worked to pay for her studies and was the first member of her immediate family to earn a college degree. During her junior year of college, Marcella met a tall, blond Swede named Roger Lindgren at the Luther League Bible study. Their first date was to the UM Forestry Ball. In 1962, they married and moved to Orient, Washington.

By 1966, they had moved back to Montana and had two lovely daughters. At this point, Marcella began her journey of deeper faith and prayer, walking with Jesus, learning to love God’s Word, and surrendering her burdens to him as she raised her daughters in rural Western Montana.

Marcella had three life-long dreams. She wanted to write or paint, she wanted to travel, and she wanted her faith in Jesus to transform every corner of her life so that others would experience the hope she had found. In 1986, with her daughters off to college and her parents now needing significant support, Marcella began her painting career, taking university and private classes and building a significant art and history library. In 1989, at the age of 52, she made her first of several European trips, adding more inspiration to her art. Over the next 15 years, she and Roger travelled to Europe, as well as Nepal, Thailand, and India. She initially visited distant relatives in Wales and Sweden and toured the recently opened Eastern Bloc. Later, they visited both their daughters and their families, as they worked overseas. During this season, Marcella sketched, copied the masters, and painted scenes from her A-frame home along the Clark Fork River. Most of all, she loved to host her five grandchildren in her beautiful A-frame home.

In 2012, she celebrated her 50th Wedding Anniversary with Roger. In 2014, when Roger passed away, Marcella learned that she had microvascular ischemia and was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. In 2018, she joined the community at the Village Senior Residence and discovered that, as her faith had sustained her as wife and mother through her parents’ health challenges and through losing Roger, she could do this new thing, too. To her last day, she retained her own sweet personality; her artistic eye for noticing details, colors, and the ever-changing clouds; and her love of singing hymns, of walking outdoors, and tending flowers. She made new friends and navigated new health and social challenges with grace. And when she could no longer remember what day it was, one simple song became her theme song, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

On Thursday evening, June 18th, after a big bowl of ice cream and a walk outside with her daughter to enjoy the view of the nearby golf course, just after she was tucked in for bed, Marcella experienced a massive stroke. She was still holding her favorite devotional book, A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm.

Marcella will be dearly missed by her daughter Lynn Lindgren of Portland, OR; her daughter Adina (and Dan) McCloy of Missoula, MT; her five grandchildren Otillia Schreuder (and Nick Peterson) of Albany, OR, Emily (and Garrett) Williamson of Tulsa, OK, Aidan McCloy (moving to Nome, AK), Charlotta Schreuder of Portland, OR, and Micah McCloy of Longview, TX; and her brother Ernie Evans of Ormond Beach, FL, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Marcella was preceded in death by her husband, Roger Lindgren, her parents, and her two sisters.

A grave-side service will be held at 1:30 PM on Friday, June 26, at Missoula City Cemetery.

 A celebration of life will also be held at a later date when more family members will be able to attend.