Janet Hughes Morrow passed away peacefully at her home in Kalispell on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, at the age of 82 years young, after a long and brave battle with brain cancer. She spent her last day with her daughter and son, and the wonderful caregivers who had helped make her transition comfortable and soft.

She was born at Evanston Hospital on Aug. 25, 1931, in Evanston, Ill., to Albert R. Hughes Sr. and Helen A. Hughes of nearby Winnetka, a suburb of Chicago. She attended Winnetka public schools, including New Trier High School. Prior to graduating high school, her father was transferred to New York in 1949, and they lived in the town of Bronxville, N.Y. Janet graduated from the Mary Burnham School for Girls in Northampton, Mass., followed by Bradford Junior College in Haverhill, Mass. She then made her way back to the Chicago area, graduating from Northwestern University in Evanston with a Bachelor of Science in English literature.

She married the funny and brilliant Thomas W. Malone of Bronxville on May 21, 1955, and had two wonderful children while living in the town of Pleasantville, N.Y. She was always drawn to working and trying to make things better. She was the president of the Junior League of North Westchester County for an unprecedented three years and had many accomplishments to her credit. Tom, an advertising executive, was transferred to Chicago in 1969, and back she went to familiar territory.

Her desire to find work of value drove her to help found and become executive director of TRUST (To Reshape Urban Systems Together), a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization that served as a catalyst for cross-interest group communication (neighborhoods/corporations/politicians) and cooperative problem solving focused on public policy issues to revitalize communities. She headed TRUST for 14 years. Her civic appointments, awards and citations are too numerous to list here but a few of them are: Appointed to Chicago’s Mayor Washington's Task Force to develop an Ethics Ordinance; appointed vice chair of his Board of Ethics; appointed by Governor Thompson to serve on the Enterprise Zone Task Force; the Board of Directors of the City Club of Chicago; and on and on. “She was flipping awesome!”

She and her husband Tom (who passed away in 1997) divorced in 1976. Some years later as a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, she met Richard M. Morrow, the then-chairman and CEO of Amoco Oil (and one of the world's great guys!). They were married on June 15, 1985, and were both very active in the Chicago community through such outlets as the Civic Opera House, the Art Institute of Chicago and many others. Together through Dick's work at Amoco, they traveled around the globe seeing much of the beauty as well as some of the tragedy that our blue orb has to offer. Janet and Dick enjoyed a second home in Bigfork since 1994, and loved their time in the valley. However, they divorced in 2004, and Janet moved to Montana full time to be near her two (again, wonderful) kids and her grandkids.

Here in the valley, she was tireless in her efforts to support, invest in and occasionally help guide entrepreneurial endeavors, especially those relating to green energy technologies. She wanted to do what she could to help bring jobs to this beautiful place.

She believed that instead of us being human beings here for a spiritual experience, we are instead spiritual beings here for a human experience. Her search for personal spiritual fulfillment as well as her desire to find answers to complex existential questions never ceased. We wouldn't doubt that she now has many more answers than questions, but wherever she may be, she will be looking for ways to make it better for all.

She is survived by her daughter, Wendy Malone Madison and her husband, Gary, and their children, Michael and Cassidy; her son, Andrew Hughes Malone; her big brother, Albert “Bud” Hughes Jr. and his four (almost as wonderful) children; as well as many, many friends.

She never stopped learning. She never stopped teaching. She never stopped seeking. She cared, she tried. She was our Mom and our Gramma and we loved her!

A celebration of life gathering is planned for 3 p.m. on Friday, March 21 at the BruMar Estate in Bigfork.

In lieu of flowers, she requested that donations go to either Montana PBS (800) 426-8243, or Citizens for a Better Flathead (406) 756-8993.

Chicago donations: Good News Partners, 1600 W. Jonquil Terrace, Chicago, IL 60626, (773) 764-4998.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home is caring for Janet’s family. You are invited to go to www.jgfuneralhome.com to offer condolences and view Janet’s tribute wall.