Neva Joanne Porte

Neva Joanne Porte sailed peacefully from her Helena home into eternity on July 20, 2024.

Born in Dillon, Montana in 1931 to Adena and Claude Hardy, Neva spent her early years in Glendive and Miles City. Growing up during the Depression, she learned how to create fun out of pure imagination. She also developed a lifelong passion for reading. She would often walk home from the Miles City library reading all the way, resulting in numerous skinned knees.

Her family moved to Helena when Neva was 12. She attended Hawthorne School, then Helena High, where she started dating Dick Porte. They both went to Montana State, where Neva studied art. They married in 1951 at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Helena.

The Portes had six children: Chuck, Sanna, Ellen, Amy, Glenn and Paul. As a loving mom, Neva filled their lives with fun and adventure, especially at the family cabin on Lindbergh Lake. She taught them how to make dreamboats, play kick-the-can, devise elaborate treasure hunts, turn chores into games and hike safely in bear country. ("You've got to let the bears know you're not sneaking up on them.")

Neva was an accomplished pianist and sang in the Helena Symphony Chorale and St. Paul's choir with her lovely alto voice. She remembered every song she ever heard, and she could spontaneously and hilariously revise the lyrics of any song to fit any occasion. People of all ages were drawn to her warmth and wit.

Somehow, Neva found time to volunteer for Campfire Girls, St. Peter's Hospital, Intermountain Children's Home and Belmont Ski Club. She volunteered at St. Paul's church in countless ways, including taking teenagers down the Smith River. She was a charter member of the Montana Alpine Scientific and Surfing Society, which had little to do with science or surfing but much to do with society. And skiing.

Neva skied like a dream, fluid and graceful. She loved to swim, dance and sail. She was an expert cook, famous for cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner on the cabin's old wood-burning cookstove.

With the soul of an artist, Neva was always making art. She sewed beautiful creations, made Advent wreaths for St. Paul's, and built a gorgeous Victorian dollhouse - now a family heirloom. A talented writer, she wrote a cherished family history, weaving generations of family letters with her stories of growing up in Montana.

Neva loved experiencing other cultures and she and Dick traveled all over the world. They were married 73 "long, miserable years," as Neva liked to joke. She had a spectacular sense of humor. Even in her last days, she was lifting hearts and easing worries with her one-liners.

Humor and resilience saw Neva through times both joyful and tragic. She lost her parents, her sisters Hollie and Claudia, grandson Ian and daughters Amy and Ellen. She lost considerable mobility in her later years, but she never lost her zest for life - especially if she had a steady supply of good books. She faced pain with incredible courage and grace.

Beautiful and brilliant, Neva could have been a professional writer, counselor, diplomat, designer, or comedian. Luckily for us, she chose to apply her many talents to her family and community.

Neva is survived by her beloved family: husband Dick; sons Chuck (Dawn), Glenn, and Paul; daughter Sanna (Dave); grandkids Meaghen, Marissa, Casey (Amy), Alex and Maggie (Will); great-grandkids Lotus, Carter, Austin, Beau and Max; plus nieces, nephews and cousins.

We reckon Neva is now gliding across a celestial mountain lake with Ellen and Amy in her little sailboat she named Sister Moon, serenaded by thrush song. Sail on, Mom/Grandma/Neva. We love you beyond words.

A private family memorial is planned.