15/08/2026
💜 August Speak Series highlights resident, Ethel Malone 💜
Today, we had the privilege of sitting down with Ethel and hearing a life story that reminded me just how much one person can change the lives around them. ❤️
Born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, in 1946, Ethel moved to Virginia at just eight years old after her mother remarried. She learned early how to adapt. She married at 17, eventually came to Montana, raised three children, went through a divorce, spent some time in Mexico, and later made the decision to return to Billings for school to study psychology.
Ethel admits she already carried a belief that she wasn't very smart. So when a teacher called her stupid, she wasn't having it. She made him apologize in front of the whole school. She already had that voice inside of her—she didn't need anyone else adding to it.
Later, through a fellowship for single Christian adults, she met Don. An accident had affected Don's memory so severely that when he saw Ethel again, he didn't remember her.
But Ethel remembered him.
One day she noticed him sitting alone in the Eastern Montana College cafeteria. He looked lonely, so she walked over and asked if she could sit with him. She became fascinated by his story and eventually asked if she could write papers about him and his accident.
Something grew between them, and in March of 1987, Ethel and Don were married. ❤️
While living in Broadview, Ethel began using woodworking as a form of therapy for Don. Working out of a trailer, she would draw designs onto boards using lessons about angles her grandfather had taught her. Don would make the cuts with a saw while Ethel stood nearby and prayed.
They decided to make three cradles for their granddaughters. A friend saw their work and wanted to buy one.
A business was born.
Don was reluctant at first, but Ethel had an answer for that:
“You'll never accomplish anything if you don't try.”
They tried. And it worked.
Even now, Ethel lights up when she talks about Don's beautiful works of art.
But watching Don grow through therapy led Ethel to an even bigger question: How many people aren't getting what they need?
So Ethel and Don opened their home to people with significant disabilities and support needs. Their home eventually included people across an incredible range of ages and abilities, from a baby to someone who was 94 years old.
And something beautiful happened.
Those who could do something helped those who couldn't. Everyone had something to give.
Ethel described it as “absolutely the way the world is supposed to be” — people caring for and helping one another.
She advocated relentlessly for her foster kids while also teaching them about both their rights and their responsibilities.
Then came another chapter: clowning. 🤡❤️
Ethel studied at the University of Minnesota and began bringing clowning into hospitals and nursing homes. Many of her foster kids became clowns too.
For Ethel, being a clown was never about making fun of someone. A clown could take the joke, but never use a joke to hurt or put another person down.
Even her clown makeup had meaning. Hearts adorned her cheeks to represent **love—lots of love and patience—**while blue represented the sky and heaven.
And, of course, there were hugs.
Once Ethel approached a gentleman and asked, “How about a hug?”
“Don't touch me,” he told her.
Ethel's response? Essentially, Well, then give it back! And she hugged him again.
From that day forward, he loved getting hugs from her. ❤️
After listening to Ethel tell her story, one thing became very clear: caring for people isn't simply something she has done.
It's who she is.
She said something today that may explain her life better than anything else could: “I don't think there's anyone in the world who can't be helped.”
Ethel believes our world needs more people willing to care about one another. And she hasn't simply believed that—she has spent her life living it.
Through the people she welcomed into her home, the children she fiercely advocated for, the laughter she carried into hospitals and nursing homes, the hugs she freely gave, and her unwavering belief in what people can become when someone cares enough to believe in them, Ethel has left love everywhere she's gone.
A true earth angel in human form. ❤️
And perhaps Ethel's life leaves all of us with two simple reminders:
You'll never accomplish anything if you don't try.
And there is no one in this world who isn't worth caring about. ❤️
