Grace Alice Webb Painter passed away peacefully on February 25, 2019 at her home in Helena, MT surrounded by her family. At her request, no services will be held. Grace was born in Breckenridge, MN on December 18, 1937 to Gretchen and Byron Webb.
She attended schools in Montevideo, MN, and graduated from Montevideo High School in 1955. She played both the piano and the marimba from an early age and she was often invited to perform live on area radio shows. Grace moved to Montana after high school graduation and she worked for a summer in a gift shop at St. Mary’s in Glacier Park.
Grace liked to report that she spent the summer as a “curio doll”. She met Robert Day Painter in Helena while he was home on leave in the summer of 1955. She loved to say “she had come west looking for a cowboy, but found a sailor home on leave instead”.
They were married in Montevideo, MN on September 8, 1956, and moved to Washington State University where they resided in what Grace delighted in calling “Cockroach Manor” which she had decorated and transformed into a “doll’s house”. At WSU Grace graduated with a degree in Home Economics and Bob as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. They returned to Helena and purchased Valley Veterinary Service in 1960 and renamed it Helena Veterinary Service where they served both small and large animals, domestic and exotics alike.
In 1987 the family purchased Capital Engine in Helena and renamed it Dr. Zoom’s Auto Parts. Grace continued to work at both the veterinary and auto parts businesses until Helena Veterinary service was sold in 1992 due to Bob’s declining health. Grace left the auto parts business after it moved to the North Montana location to care for the grandchildren while the sons and their wives worked at the business.
Grace skillfully balanced her roles as a homemaker, managing the vet clinic, and as a Veterinary Technician as the business grew. Grace designed both the veterinary clinic and the family home, both of which have withstood the test of time as architectural gems. She loved to entertain and she planned, decorated and hosted many business and family events at her home.
She loved to garden, and her patio gardens were beautiful evidence of her green thumb. Grace delighted in children and young people, particularly her grandchildren and their friends, who spent many happy hours playing in her spacious yard using the “dress up” boxes she kept in her basement and enjoying the treats she generously prepared. In her free time, Grace volunteered for many Helena entities, including The Old Brewery Theatre, Helena Arts Council, Festival of Trees, Western Rendezvous of Art, St. Peter’s Hospital Gala, Graduate Home Economists, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Auxiliary, and as a local pageant judge.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Byron and Gretchen Webb and her husband, Robert Painter. Grace is survived by her eldest son, Dan, (Bobbi) of Henderson, NV and their children Ashley (Ian) Elsworth of Helena; Chelsea Painter of San Diego, CA; and Zachary Painter of Henderson NV; her youngest son, Greg (Janelle) and their sons Quay and Jentry Painter of Helena, MT. She is also survived by her brothers, Byron Webb, Jr (Barbara) of Alexandria, MN and Ned Webb (Cheryl) of Prescott, AZ, and sister-in-law, Jean Bradford of Billings, MT.
Her family is grateful to her doctors, nurses and staff of St. Peter’s Hospital, and to the caregivers of Frontier Hospice, for their excellent and compassionate care. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Grace Painter please visit our Sympathy Store.
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