MISSOULA — Roberta “Susie” Byrne of Clinton passed away on the morning of Good Friday, March 30, 2018.   A proud native of Butte, America, Susie was born Roberta Rae Riley on Feb. 27, 1938.   Susie attended St. John’s Elementary School in Butte and then graduated from Butte High in 1956.   Her parents built the Royal Motel in Butte where Susie developed her strong work ethic cleaning bathrooms and making beds.   Her Dad, “Red” owned the Club Bar on West Broadway for over 30 years.

      After hearing stories of fantastic bar fights and cleaning up the rooms of weary travelers, perhaps it was only natural that Susie decided to enter St. Patrick’s Nursing School in Missoula.   One of her classmates from Philipsburg, Gaye Page, kept encouraging Susie to meet her cousin Pat because she thought they would make a great match.   A few months later one of her patients, Jack Byrne, also encouraged Susie to meet his son Pat for the same reason.   They finally met at a dance at the school of nursing in 1958 and she married Patrick Byrne on Dec. 22, 1959, after graduation.

      Susie suspended her nursing career for a few years while raising her five children on the Byrne farm near Clinton.   Instead of delivering babies, she helped deliver calves, lambs, and even a goat until the children were in high school when she once again returned to her nursing career.   She began at the Missoula Red Cross and after a couple of years, started working at the Curry Student Health Service at the University of Montana.   Susie loved working at the University and stayed there for over 20 years.   While there she received additional training and became one of the first recipients of the Certified Nurse Practitioner designation.   One of the things she loved to say was that the patients seemed to stay the same age while only the staff grew older.   Susie made strong connections with the young people she treated and to this day her own family is often surprised to meet Susie’s friends that are many years younger than themselves.

      After retirement, Susie enjoyed visits at the farm from family, friends and former patients who would come to fish, hunt, buck hay bales and dip into the “cookie jar” which is why she was known to many as the “Oreo Grandma”.   Susie also renewed her Catholic roots at St. Anne’s Parish in Bonner and was a fixture at Loyola Sacred Heart sporting events where her grandchildren attended school.

      Susie always cherished her family and friends. She embraced her life from her gardening to the farm she shared with her husband Pat and her kids.   Susie was just as comfortable at home raising Beefalo, painting her house, or hosting the President of Ireland for the Friends of Irish Studies program.

      She was preceded in death by her parents, Francis J. “Red” and Agnes Riley.

      She is survived by her husband, Patrick Byrne and their children James Byrne and wife Diane;   Denise Schroeder and her husband Don, (aka “Dan Schneider”);   David Byrne and wife Jane Jakobe;   Lori Kaczka and her husband Kevin;   Bob Byrne and wife Becky.   She left a legacy in her five grandchildren, Riley Byrne, Kaelin and Konnor Kaczka, and Brayden and Jacob Byrne.   She is also survived by half-sisters, Judith Lethin, Marilynn McConnell, and Sandra Ferguson, and half-brother Robert Strong.

      Gifts in memory of Susie would be welcomed by the Friends of Irish Studies, P.O. Box 4693, Missoula, Montana 59806.

      Celebration of Life will be held at St. Francis Xavier Church on Thursday, April 5, at 10:30 a.m.   A reception will follow at the church in Reidy Hall.