Marlene Maki, 77

Marlene Maki passed away Sept. 15, 2025, in Denver, Colorado, from complications of cancer. She was cared for in the home of her daughter for her final months under the excellent and compassionate care of a team of hospice nurses and counselors.

Marlene was born to Ben Carl Maki and Esther Aune Lahti at the Old St. James Hospital in Butte, Montana, on April 14, 1948. She grew up in Whitehall and graduated from Whitehall High School in 1966. Many in Whitehall knew her and her siblings by the name Makowski after their parents divorced and Esther married Bud Makowski, who then adopted Marlene and her siblings.

Growing up, Marlene's greatest passion was horseback riding, especially her palomino named Sparky, who, we are assured, was the best horse that ever lived.

She lived and worked in Helena, MT, and Grand Junction, CO, for some time before discovering her great passion in life: long-haul truck driving. She completed the educational requirements of truck driving school through a correspondence course followed by driver training at a school near Kansas City, MO.

Driving was her greatest joy, and she was rarely happier than when she was on the open road behind the wheel of a 40-ton rig. After returning to Whitehall with her daughter, she held various jobs, including one at the local concrete mixing plant, the USDA extension office, and the Golden Sunlight Mine, before returning to truck driving.

During summer break, her daughter would join her on the road, and those summers were some of the happiest and most memorable for both of them.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Esther; her father, Ben; her stepfather, Clarence "Bud" Makowski; and her brother-in-law, Robert "Goose" Shaw. She is survived by her daughter, RoxAnn Elliott; her sister, Raye Shaw; her brother, Ben Makowski; her sister-in-law, Dorothy Makowski; and several nieces and nephews, whom she loved dearly. She is also survived by a husband, Robert Domgard, from whom she was separated.

The family would like to extend a special thanks to the Jefferson Valley EMS team, who provided much-needed support and care through their Community Integrated Health program. The men and women who showed up time and again to help Marlene and her family as her health and mobility declined showed great professionalism and sensitivity, but also patience and humor that was immensely appreciated.

Anyone who would like to pay their respects to Marlene is encouraged to do so by supporting the Jefferson Valley EMS and their vital community services.

Finally, it should be noted that Marlene's legal name was Marlene Makowski Domgard. She was working to divorce her husband and resume her birth name, Maki, when she passed. Regardless of who knew her as Makowski or Domgard - or Elliott, which was the name she shared with her daughter upon moving back to Whitehall in 1986 - it would do her the highest honor to be remembered as Marlene Maki, the name to which she was born and remained a fixed point in her heart as a proud Finnish-American.

From the day she entered this world until the day she left it, Marlene Maki belonged wholly to herself.