Born September 16, 1958. Passed away March 10, 2026.

 Val was born in the Cardston hospital, the daughter of Wallace and Inez French. She had two brothers, Monte and K.C, and two sisters, Melanie and Penny. The French family grew up on a ranch southwest of Hillspring. Val grew up in a real rodeo family. It was all rodeo, all the time. Val started competing at an early age and was very good at it. Competing in High School rodeo, Val was the girls all-around champion for all four years, a feat in the record books. She went on to compete in the National Finals High School Rodeo in Sulphur, Louisiana, where one year she represented Alberta in five events (Team roping-heading, calf roping, barrel racing, goat tying, and pole bending).
After High School it was jackpots, amateur and professional rodeos and C.G.R.A (Canadian Girls Rodeo Association). In the C.G.R.A, Val won numerous All-Around titles, with more trophy saddles and buckles than she could keep track of. She was Alberta mixed team roping champion, a fierce competitor for all.
In the summer of 1988, she met Jack Marr while riding across the Palmer Ranch. A year later, on June 16, 1989, they ran away and got married at the courthouse in Great Falls. Together they enjoyed the ranching life in Twin Butte. They raised three sons, Lander (Lana and their son Wally), Call (Brooke), and Gray.
Val dragged many calves to branding fires with her little boys in her backpack. In winter, Val helped hook up teams of work horses to feed the cows, and her boys were always by her side. She could always turn work into fun.
When the boys got a little bigger, and cattle prices fell, Val accepted a job at Canyon Elementary School as an Educational Assistant. This is a job she thoroughly enjoyed. She loved the kids, and the kids loved her. She made many lasting friendships with the staff and parents. In June of 2024, she had to retire for health reasons, a decision that was hard to make.
Val loved the mountains, blue sky days, and fast horses.
Val will always be remembered as a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother. She had unlimited devotion to her family, with an un-selfish giving heart and quiet steady inner strength and grit. Val was pre-deceased by her father (Wallace), and her brother (K.C).
The last good-bye is the hardest one to say.
This is where the cowgirl rides away.