Jane Bangert

Jane (Huntington) Bangert, 83 of Billings passed away peacefully from natural causes on April 17th, 2025 with her daughter by her side. Jane was born on March 24th, 1942 at St. Vincent hospital in Billings, Montana.

Jane (Little Janie) was the youngest of 4 children born to Marshall and Margaret Huntington. She grew up in Laurel and attended Laurel High School graduating in 1960. During this time she was a High School cheerleader and worked at Dudis Jewelry. It was also when she met future husband Rueben Frank. They were married on January 19th, 1960 making their home at the Hamilton Apartments in Laurel. They were huge fans of Elvis and of course “Love Me Tender” was their song. Janie also loved The Platters and had their records on 78 RPM. Her hair-do often resembled Barbra Streisand whose albums could also be found in her collection.

Jane and Rueben moved to Billings and raised 3 children and one foster child. She was very proud to have become a “Den Mother” for the neighborhood Cub Scouts and troop leader for the Brownies and Girl Scouts. Her hobbies included reading a lot of Agatha Christie novels, playing board games and bowling in a women’s league.

In 1976 tragedy struck the family when Rueben died in an accidental fall. She eventually met and married LeRoy Bangert in 1978 and they merged their families: 3 girls and 3 boys into the “Brady Bunch” moving into his ranch on Hesper Road.

Jane embraced her extended family, raising her children and stepchildren with love and care, always keeping the fridge stocked for her hungry household. She and LeRoy enjoyed meeting friends at the Lion’s Den, where they played games of Frogger and Pac-man. They never failed to stop by Navasio’s to pick up bags of burgers for their ravenous teenagers at home. Jane and LeRoy took numerous road trips in their brand new Thunderbird, enjoying horse races and making many trips to Las Vegas to play the machines and take in shows. After their children were grown, they moved into town (Billings), where Jane began working at Sears in the women’s clothing department until her retirement.

Every Wednesday night was “Survivor” night for Jane and her daughter, who were both fans of the show. They would call each other to compare notes after each finale. Survivor is a fitting synopsis to describe Jane; despite numerous falls, broken bones, and other challenges, she never quit. She was resilient, feisty, intelligent, loving—she was mom.

Jane moved to Autumn Springs Assisted Living and formed a tight bond with the “C” floor. She loved to spend time completing crossword puzzles, reading her Nook Book (over 500+ books), putting together Jigsaw puzzles, and weekly trips to Albertsons with her daughter cruising the isles with her walker stocking up for the week. Jane’s family would like to thank everyone at Autumn Springs for their love and care, you became our extended family and we are grateful to have found you.

Jane is preceded in death by her parents Marshall and Margaret Huntington, her husbands Rueben Frank and LeRoy Bangert, and her sisters Joan Markovich and Judy Metzger, and Foster son Alex Deines.

Surviving family members include her brother Fred Huntington of Smyrna GA; daughters Karri Bangert Vialpando of Whitefish MT, Donna Bangert of Cuba City WI, and Jan (Charlie) Schott of Billings; sons Rod Frank of San Diego CA, Jeff Frank of Las Vegas NV and Mike Bangert (Vicky) of Billings.

There will be a celebration of Jane’s life at a future date.