BILLINGS (LEE) - Friends of Bette Bohlinger remembered her Monday as a woman of grace and goodness.

Finding it difficult to separate Bette and her husband, Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, old friend Elizabeth McNamer, said, "I will never forget her kindness. She was the first one there when anything went wrong.

"She was a grace-filled woman," McNamer added. "She never forgot a kindness. She was so gracious.

"I have joyful remembrances of Bette and John. I speak of them as one."

Bette Bohlinger died in Helena Monday from a re-occurrence of acute leukemia. The disease was first diagnosed a little more than a year ago. After chemotherapy in Billings, she was later declared clear of the disease. It returned this fall, and she was making plans to undergo a bone marrow transplant at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

"Bette was a woman for all seasons," said Billings attorney Jim Thompson, a long-time friend who compared her to the Englishman St. Thomas More.

"She was always positive, a can-do, nothing-gets-in-the-way attitude," he said. "She had a firm resolve to handle a situation."

One of those situations occurred at the end of February 1994 when the Bohlingers, Thompson, and his late wife, Marie, were in a cable car accident near Manzanillo, Mexico. Jim Thompson was the only one not injured as the car bounced about 20 yards down a 45-degree slope.

Bette cracked a vertebra in her back, broke the heel of one foot and bones in the other.

Thompson was with John Bohlinger when he first met Bette and served as best man at their wedding.

Their courtship and married life has been described as "a classic love story."

"They did everything together," Thompson said. "They were a wonderful compliment, not just in business, but as a family. Every aspect of their lives. The church was part of that life."

The Bohlingers were members of St. Patrick's Co-Cathedral parish in Billings. The vigil service and funeral Mass will be held there Friday evening and Saturday morning.

"They were so close they equaled one," said former state Sen. Bruce Crippen, R-Billings, who, with his wife, Mary, were fast friends of the Bohlingers outside the political realm.

"He was head over heals in love with her," Crippen said recalling a backyard barbecue in Billings before the couple was married. "They were just meant for each other. She was loyal, supportive and adored him."

Crippen noted Bette's graciousness. "She was so appreciative of everyone, especially after the accident in Mexico," he said. "It is one thing to give, but she had the ability to receive. She had that kind of graciousness."

He referred to her remarks this past weekend after a blood draw for potential blood marrow donors was held in Helena on her behalf.

"She urged people to do it even though it might not help her, but others down the line," he said.

Other close friends, both in and out of the political arena, were Royal and Norma Johnson of Billings.

"They were like a brother and sister," Royal Johnson said. "We spent a tremendous amount of time together while at the Legislature. They were all good times."

John Bohlinger and Johnson both served in the Montana House and Senate

Dean and Mary Kay Wilcox, of Atlanta, recalled that Bette won a prize from The Billings Gazette about 10 years ago for writing about a "most crazy" camping road trip to California in the early '70's.

The four adults spent three weeks on the road with 11 children ages 3 to 16. Proximity can breed contempt, so the couples agreed not to see each other for a while when they got home. However, once the pictures were developed, they could gather and laugh, they said.

The Wilcoxes visited the Bohlingers in Helena this past summer.

"Those were precious moments, because we knew it could be our last time together," Dean Wilcox said.

The Bohlingers owned and operated Aileen's, a women's fine clothing store, for many years before turning it over to a couple of daughters.

Monday morning, Linda Heins, who has worked at Aileen's for more than two years and has been minding the store in recent days, remembered Bette as "so endearing and friendly. She would look you right in the eye. You knew she was concerned about you."