Obituaries

Sep 28, 2017

Madilyn "Sody" Bell Jones passed away on Sept. 25, 2017. More than our wife, mother, grandmother, sister and aunt, Sody was our best friend, brightest smile, most infectious laugh, and constant source of energy. She was the gregarious, irreverent matriarch of our family. There was never a dull moment when Sody was present and we loved her fits of...

Sep 26, 2017

Louis Moran passed away peacefully on Sept. 20, 2017, in Billings. Louie was born on Dec. 4, 1918, in Geddes, South Dakota, to William Christopher and Marie (Philipps) Moran. He was the oldest of six children. His family relocated to Conrad in 1928 as the Great Depression began. He worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late...

Sep 26, 2017

Mabel Maxine Dolan passed away on Sept. 24, 2017, after a brief stay at RiverStone Hospice House.

She was born on July 8, 1923, to Cliff and Emma Devaney. Her place of birth is listed as Roosevelt County. She grew up in Wolf Point with her sisters Mary and Henny (Henrietta). Mom took bookkeeping in high school...

Sep 25, 2017

Peg was born in Lewistown on Dec. 7, 1942, to Robert "Joe" and Vesta Wichman.

Peg went to Wild Rose School, Moore High School and on to Beauty School in Billings. She also worked at First National Bank, Northwest Fabrics/Hancock Fabrics. Early in Peg's adult life, she enjoyed going to Pat's Club, where she meet John Straight...

Sep 23, 2017

John Ray Black was born on September 15, 1928 in Los Angeles, California, and passed away surrounded by his beloved family at Mission Ridge Senior Living Community in Billings, Montana, on September 17, 2017, having just marked his 89th birthday.

The third child of Allen and Florence (Beard) Black, John spent his childhood in Glendale, California, where...

Sep 21, 2017

Surrounded by family and resting comfortably, Kathryn Sweeney passed away in the early morning hours of Sept. 21, 2017.

Kathryn Mary (Morgan) Sweeney was born in Rigby, Idaho, on Jan. 10, 1949. Her family moved to Montana in 1956 when her parents purchased a local apiary business that became Morgan Honey Farm. Kathryn graduated from Hot Springs...

Sep 19, 2017

Christian Mark Sorensen, age 57, of Billings, passed away in a car accident on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017.

Chris was born on Dec. 2, 1959, in Casper, Natrona County, Wyoming, to Sylvester C. Sorensen and Marvel Eloise Hutson. He attended Eastern Montana College in Billings (now MSUB), where he earned a B.A. in environmental studies. He then...

Sep 19, 2017

Callen K. Northam died peacefully in his sleep on Sept. 13, 2017, while visiting Texas. He was born in Chicago, the only child of Harry and Jean Northam.

Cal spent his childhood growing up in Chicago and spent a great deal of time working on a farm near Michigan City, Indiana, owned by his grandparents. He graduated...

Sep 13, 2017

Gary D. Miller, 77, passed from this life to his heavenly home on Sept. 11, 2017, from complications of Myasthenia Gravis, an incurable autoimmune disease.

Gary led a full life. He grew up in Livingston, roaming and hunting in the mountains and all the fishing holes he could find on the Yellowstone River. He joined the Air...

Sep 13, 2017

Thomas Michael Olsen, son of Mary Fuqua, was released by God from 15 years of pain and suffering as family and friends surrounded him with love. The loved ones left behind are his mother; three children: daughters, Angela VanDecar and Jessica (Jason) Johnson, and son, Chris (Kelli) Johns: 11 grandchildren: Brecken and Greyson VanDecar; Tristin Rodriguez, Aria and Lukas...

Sep 11, 2017

The Life of a most Gracious Lady

Shirley May Burton was born at home on May 19th, 1934 in the small, Montana town of Musselshell. Due to an unfortunate bout of scarletina, Lorene Burton was asked not to come to the hospital in Roundup and was, instead, met at home by the local doctor for Shirley’s delivery....

Sep 8, 2017

Mary T. Duenow passed away peacefully on the morning of Sept. 2, 2017, after a rapid decline in health caused by a rare and fatal condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Mary was born to Bill and Agnes Kisling on Dec. 9, 1940, in Hutchinson, Minnesota, the youngest of six children. She graduated from Hutchinson High School. She married...

Sep 6, 2017

JoAnn (Taylor) Driscoll, age 73, passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 3, 2017. JoAnn was born in Ephrata, WA on October 19, 1943 to Duane and Catherine (Lynch) Taylor. She attended elementary school in Connell, WA and graduated from Walla Walla High School in 1961. She attended Washington State University and completed Seattle Dental Assistants Technicians School in 1962....

Aug 31, 2017

In the late evening of Aug. 29, 2017, our loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother peacefully passed away. Evelyn J. Funk was born Dec. 30, 1930, and raised on the family farm west of Billings. The daughter of George and Eva Staley, she was also sister to Helen, Lil, George and Harry.

Evelyn attended both Elder Grove and...

Aug 30, 2017

Marge was born on March 17, 1933, to Edward and Maria (Schutz) Kraft in Beulah, North Dakota. Marge was the youngest of seven children. Her parents moved to the St. Xavier, Montana area, where Marge grew up and attended school.

While attending confirmation, Marge met the man who would become her husband: Albert "Al" Schmidt. They were...

Aug 30, 2017

Jeffrey James Grenfell, born Dec. 26, 1969, in Iron Mountain, Michigan, to Tom and Irene Grenfell, went to be with Jesus and the angels on Aug. 23, 2017.

Jeff grew up in Michigan and, shortly after high school, moved to Montana to be with his sister and her family. He loved his nieces very much.

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Aug 29, 2017

Irene L. Deines passed from this life on Aug. 26, 2017, in Billings. She was born on April 29, 1921, in Logan County, North Dakota, the second of six children. Her parents, John and Matilda Lachenmeier, moved the family to Hardin in 1931.

Irene farmed and ranched her entire life, starting with hoeing beats 12 hours a...

Aug 26, 2017

LAUREL - Thomas William Prill, 79, of Laurel, passed away Aug. 23, 2017. He was born March 14, 1938 in Jamestown, North Dakota, to George and Viola Prill. He served in the United States Air Force in the Air Police, Canine unit, stationed in Étain, France and Aviano, Italy, and was honorably discharged in 1960. He earned a degree...

Aug 24, 2017

Sophia P. Smith, 103, of Billings, passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017.

Sophia was the youngest child of the late Alexander and Dora Poblieski. She was born in Anaconda in 1914. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Great Falls. Sophia lived there until she moved to Billings in 1942, where she worked as a hairdresser until...

Aug 24, 2017

Our beautiful angel, Olivia Renee Johnson, joined her grandmother Gwenda Heimbichner and her grandfather Thomas Johnson in heaven on Aug. 17, 2017, at 4:21 p.m. She was born absolutely perfect at 7 ounces and 8 1/2 inches long. She was born surrounded by family with so much love and support.

Olivia is survived by her father, Brett...