Margaret Kelly/Slack Family Endowed Scholarship
EST. 2016
Please address your letter to:
Dr. Shawn Slack and Ms. Anne Rees
Margaret Kelly was born in Perma, Montana, to a homesteading family in 1916. Her large family relocated to Kalispell after the death of her father from a burst appendix. Margaret remained in Kalispell the rest of her life, marrying Maurice Kelly in 1934. Together, they raised two children, Jerry Kelly and Karen Kelly Slack.
Margaret developed severe rheumatoid arthritis in her twenties. She relied heavily on the medical community in western Montana throughout her life to reduce the impact of this devastating disease. She deeply valued the primary and specialty medical care available to her close to home.
Margaret was a loving mother and grandmother. She saw and encouraged the best in others and showed kindness to all. She was an unabashed advocate for and inspiration to her five grandchildren.
When grandson Shawn Slack, also of Kalispell, expressed an interest in medicine, she enthusiastically supported his plans to attend the University of Washington through the WWAMI program. She proudly attended his graduation in 1992. Her positive attitude while living with debilitating disease led Shawn to become a rheumatologist and he completed both his internal medicine and rheumatology training at the University of Washington. The Slack family is grateful for the world-class medical education provided by the WWAMI program and the University of Washington School of Medicine.
The Slack family has established this scholarship endowment to support other Montana WWAMI students as they pursue their medical degrees and to honor and reflect Margaret Kelly’s kind and giving spirit. It is the Slack family hope that this scholarship inspired by Margaret serve as a reminder to recipients of the strength, character, and caring of the Montana community, as well as its complex and varied medical needs.