HELENA - Bette Bohlinger, 70, wife of Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, died here Monday morning of acute leukemia, just weeks after the disease, which she had fought off once before, returned.

Mrs. Bohlinger was a fun-loving, gracious woman who shared her husband's wit and devotion to family, faith and helping those in need.

"We are people of faith," John Bohlinger said in a written statement. "My family thanks the people of Montana for all their support and we ask them to keep us in their thoughts and prayers as we go through this trying time."

Gov. Brian Schweitzer ordered flags to be flown at half-staff throughout the state.

Mrs. Bohlinger was first diagnosed with leukemia last December, shortly after the 2004 election. She was hospitalized in Billings, but the disease later went into remission.

Looking healthy, Mrs. Bohlinger joined her husband in Helena last year and the pair got a puppy.

The disease returned shortly before Christmas. Mrs. Bohlinger was on a list for a bone marrow transplant, but no match was found. She hosted a sign-up drive for marrow donors just last week.

She was taken to St. Peter's Hospital in Helena on Friday. She died there early Monday morning.

"Bette always had a smile, always had kind words for everyone, she was an amazing woman, a dear friend and a great Montanan - she will be missed," Schweitzer said in a statement.

Services will be held later this week in Billings at St. Patrick's Co-Cathedral, where the Bohlingers were long-time members. A memorial service is also planned for Helena.

Mrs. Bohlinger grew up in Billings, where her parents ran Cobetto's grocery store just down the street from Billings Central Catholic High School, where she attended class.

She met John Bohlinger in Billings in 1962. At the time, she was a single mom with four young children attending what was then Eastern Montana College. He was fresh out of the Marines living in a house with two of his former fraternity brothers from the University of Montana.

"It was one of those hot, August nights," John Bohlinger told Lee Newspapers in a 2004 interview.

Mrs. Bohlinger and a friend had asked their mothers to baby-sit for them so they could celebrate the end of the college quarter.

"We only had like a dollar between us and we thought if we could get our mothers to baby-sit, maybe we can get one beer," she said.

John Bohlinger and some friends pulled up next to their car while they idled at a stop light.

"Meet us at the Hofbrau," he shouted out the window.

Mrs. Bohlinger and her friend were headed there, anyway.

They were married within a year. John Bohlinger said her "four, darling little babies" sweetened the deal. He adopted them and the couple later had two more children.

Mrs. Bohlinger had 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

She was a partner in Aileen's, the women's clothing store John Bohlinger's parents opened in Billings in 1941. Today, two of the Bohlinger's daughters own the store.

The Bohlingers volunteered at Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. They helped newly-released inmates. Mrs. Bohlinger supported her husband's social justice legislation in Helena, once accompanying a former prostitute to testify on behalf of a bill to crack down on the promotion of prostitution.