Elyse Yvonne Matejovsky, 92, Hope, Idaho, died on June 2, 2024, in Bonners Ferry. The eldest child of Thelma (Herting) and Leo Durkin, Lee was born in 1931 in Wolf Point, Montana. No services have been announced.
When she was three years old, the family moved to Renton, Washington, where she lived until age 15. In 1949, following their return to Wolf Point, Lee married Charles Matejovsky.
Lee was a talented seamstress with a keen eye for color, fabric and fashion. In March 1963, she and two friends opened a ladies’ dress shop in Wolf Point. Later that decade, she started her own fabric store.
Lee was active in the local Chamber of Commerce. She was also engaged in county and state politics. In 1980, she helped with Ted Schwinden’s successful gubernatorial campaign. In 1983, she was appointed to the Montana Women in Employment Advisory Council. And in 1992, she was elected county commissioner in Roosevelt County, Montana.
Lee had an unusually fine voice. She loved singing while working around the house. An avid gardener and a bridge player to be reckoned with, she will be remembered above all as a gifted cook and baker—her caramel rolls and lemon meringue pie were sublime.
In the late 1990s, following her term in office, Lee moved to Hope Peninsula, where she and Chuck had previously purchased a cabin. She built a home overlooking Lake Pend Oreille and, in the years that followed, thoroughly enjoyed entertaining family and friends, old and new.
Elyse is survived by her children Charlene Matejovsky, Seattle; Janice (Paul) Rumore, Sandpoint; Paul (Cindy) Matejovsky, Bonners Ferry; Barbara (Larry) Olson, Wolf Point; and Jeanne (James) Rolph, Seattle. Alan, her youngest, died in 1972, and her husband Chuck in 1990.
Lee is also survived by ten grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, and half-siblings Bartel Andresen, Poplar, Montana, and Alice (Boone) Whitmer, Wolf Point. Her brother Galen Richard and sister Leone preceded her in death.
Memorials may be sent to Bigger Sky Kids, PO Box 750, Wolf Point, Montana 59201.