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John Charles Thompson
John Charles Thompson was born on July 20, 1910, near Whitney, in Hill County, Texas, and died in his sleep in Billings on July 5, 1999. For the past many weeks, John was at home under the loving care of his wife, Carmen, assisted by the wonderful Big Sky Hospice personnel (especially social worker Joyce, nurse Beth, aide Lois, and volunteer Cebrun). The entire family's warm thanks and appreciation go to this program and to its dedicated, caring, and effective people.
John was the only child of Charles and Johnie (Earley) Thompson. After graduating from high school in Dallas, he became employed at the Magnolia Petroleum Co. pany as an office boy, eventually working his way into the accounting department. (Magnolia Petroleum merged with Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., which eventually became Mobil Oil).
Through night school, he earned his Texas CPA designation. His exceptional aptitude and dedication moved him up through the company ranks. He was Controller of Mobil Producing Co. in Billings 1953-57. He eventually became controller and vice president of finance for various regional and international branches of Mobil (Caracas, Istanbul, Singapore), retiring in 1971, and then worked for Occidental Petroleum in Tripoli.
Afterwards, he was the Venezuela director for International Executive Service Corps, and subsequently a special consultant for Corpoven, a Venezuela oil company. He then worked in Dallas for Bishop International, and practiced public accounting. He finally retired well into his 70s!
In 1933, John married
Frances Van Slyke of Dallas and they had six sons. In 1970, he married
Carmen Lopez of Santiago de Compostela of Spain (Antonio and Maria del Carmen Matos). John and Carmen would have been married
29 years this fall.
John had a lifelong passion for chess. As founder of the Texas Chess Association and the Southwest Open Chess Tournament, he became a chess celebrity and wrote a weekly column for the Dallas Morning News, and articles for "Chess Life" and other prestigious publications. In the Southwest Open, John won first place seven times and second place five times. In those early years, he often gave chess exhibitions, playing dozens of boards simultaneously. He could play chess blindfolded. And he could combine the two. He once played a blindfold simultaneous exhibition against 23 players. In later years, he won the Montana Chess Tournament on several occasions. He remained an active member of the U.S. Chess Federation and the TCA and earned the distinction of Chess Master. Wherever he lived, he became active in the local chess world (and usually became area champion). After retirement, he taught chess classes at the Billings YMCA and local elementary schools.
John had a very special relationship with the YMCA, going back to his boyhood in Dallas. It was there that he learned to play chess, and also learned the rewards of regular exercise and discipline. These last few years in Billings, the Y was a second home. He seldom missed the early morning exercise class, led by Bill Flanagan and Dr. Leonard Etchart, and he greatly enjoyed his many Y friends. John willingly served on Y fund campaigns and gave many hours to the Y in other ways. He was very pleased when the Y honored him at an awards luncheon in May, and was most proud of the plaque of appreciation they gave him.
John was active in the Episcopal Church for over 50 years. He served on vestries in Texas, Billings, and Caracas, Venezuela. He was chairman of the fundraising campaign to establish St. Stephen's, and then became one of its first members.
John became a true citizen of the world. His Mobil career took him from Texas to Canada, then Montana, New York, Venezuela, Turkey, and Singapore; with Occidental to Paris and Libya; then back to Venezuela for "post-retirement" jobs. He became proficient in eight languages and studied many others including Japanese, Russian, and Scandinavian. His zeal for living and traveling abroad inspired many other family members to boldly explore the world.
John loved Montana and Billings. He and Carmen returned here for their retirement. But above all, he was proud to be a Texan. He was well-versed in Texas history and, to one and all, jubilantly exhorted the state and its virtues (whether fact or fiction - he took delight in both!). His final request was that his ashes be returned to the Texas he loved.
He is survived by his wife, Carmen, and by his sons and their families: Chuck and wife, Judy of Dallas, and their children Patti (her children, Rachael (her child, Mercedes), Rebecca, and Jessica); Bob and wife, Gail (Nicholas and Jacqueline); Rick and Teresa (David and Melissa); Ron; Ed and Kristin (Leah and Brian); Jim (Linda) of Billings (Elizabeth (Alex), Margaret, and John); John and Barbara of Seattle (Jeff Proctor and David); Bob and Teresa of Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain (Mikhael, Suraya, and Andrea Farah); Richard of Portland, Ore., (Michael Stewart, and Jessica and Annie Frances); Allen and Patti of Bakersfield, Calif., (Michael and Stephanie, and Sam Cloud).
Memorials may be made to Big Sky Hospice, P.O. Box 35033, Billings 59107; St. Stephen's Episcopal Church Memorial Fund, 1241 Crawford Drive, Billings; and the Billings YMCA, 402 N. 32nd, Billings.
Visitation at Smith's Downtown Chapel, Thursday, noon to 9 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to noon.
Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday, July 9, at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 1241 Crawford Drive, Billings. Cremation will follow. A reception will be held immediately following the service at Jim and Linda Thompson's home at 123 Lewis.
Priscilla Salley Walsh
DENVER - Priscilla Salley Walsh "Prissie" died in Denver on July 5, 1999, after a long battle with aggressive non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, cancer of the lymph system. She was surrounded by her family and friends, her books and favorite things. Her positive attitude was an inspiration to all she came in contact with.
She was born in Monroe, La., April 3, 1945. In her native Louisiana, she owned a skydiving and flying service, as well as a clothing boutique. Prissie also worked for the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.
She moved to Vail in the late 1970s and worked for Pepi and Sheika Gramshammer, for Gorsuch Ltd., and for Slifer Designs. In 1984 she married
her soulmate, Bill Walsh.
Prissie wrote an interior design column each month for "Log Home Living Magazine, " as well as many weekly design columns for the "Vail Trail, " "Vail Daily, " "Aspen Times" and "Aspen Daily." She established The Cabin, a home furnishings shop in Red Lodge, Mont.
Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in September of 1996, she and her husband moved to Denver in July of 1997, where Prissie had a bone marrow transplant in September of 1997. She relapsed in July of 1998 and underwent several experimental clinical trials.
She worked at University Hospital in Denver in the Renal Transplant Clinic prior to her death.
She is survived by her husband, Bill Walsh; her parents, Carlton and Johnye Salley; her sisters, Cecelia Salley Spinks of Ocean Springs, Miss., Kristen Salley Byrd of Whitehouse, Texas, and Lisa Salley of Vail; her stepchildren, Katherine, Barnaby and Genevieve Walsh; her mother-in-law, Marge Burdick of Vail; her father-in-law and his wife, Bill and Lona Walsh of Kalamazoo, Mich.; and by many aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, and a grandniece and grandnephew, and many good friends.
Her family thanks her doctors, Dr. Paul Bunn and Dr. Pablo Cagnoni, of University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for their superior care, as well as her team from Denver Visiting Nurses Hospice.
Priscilla spent much of her time as a patient advocate, which was her pet project, researching lymphoma and educating many other patients about their cancers.
The memorial service for Priscilla Walsh will be held on Friday, July 9, 11 a.m. at the Vail Interfaith Chapel, Vail, followed by a reception at Potato Patch Club.
In lieu of flowers, she requested that donations be sent in her memory to the new Patient Resource Library at the University of Colorado Cancer Center: to the attention of P. Ingebrigtsen, UCHSC - 4200 E. Ninth, Box C300, Denver, Colo. 80262.
Doris Willson
EKALAKA - Doris Willson, 76, of Ekalaka, died Tuesday, July 6, 1999, at the Fallon Medical Complex in Baker.
A prayer service will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 8, at Stevenson Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, July 9, at the Ekalaka Congregational Church with interment in the family lot of the IOOF cemetery.
Shannon Marie Wilson
Our Little Angel, Shannon Marie, left this world Tuesday evening for the Kingdom of Heaven to walk with Jesus. She died in her favorite place, the arms of mommy and daddy while surrounded by family, July 6, 1999.
Shannon touched so many lives during her short life with us. She always brought out the best in people, often by only flashing her beautiful eyes and their long eyelashes, her little smile, or her singing.
Darling, you fought so hard from the day you were born. We take peace in the knowledge that you are now without the pain and suffering that you endured for so long. You can now talk, run, and play, things your body would not let you do.
Shannon Marie was born Oct. 23, 1996, in Columbus, the daughter of Todd and Laurie (Auer) Wilson. Besides her parents she is survived by her brother, Sean Mitchell Wilson; grandparents, Les and Diana Auer of Comanche, Linda and Glenn Fink of Columbus, Bruce and Patty Wilson of Billings; great-grandparents, Bob and Lela Torgrimson of Miles City, and Viola and the late Henry Goodale of Billings; godparents, Rick and Missy Klee of Columbus.
A service of remembrance will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, July 9, at the Columbus Evangelical Church, Columbus. Funeral service will be 10 a.m. Saturday at Smith West Chapel, 304 34th St. W., Billings. Viewing will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday. Interment to follow at the Broadview cemetery, Broadview. Memorials may be made to the Stillwater Youth Center Inc., Columbus, Special K Ranch or the Billings Deaconess Clinic Family Birth Center, all c/o United Banks of Absarokee or Columbus.
"Angel, we will miss you terribly and remember you always. We love you."
Tom W. Anderson
NASHUA - Tom W. Anderson, 51, died Tuesday, July 6, 1999, at his home of an apparent heart attack.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 10, at the Nashua City cemetery. Bell Mortuary of Glasgow is in charge.
Anna Bennett (Konan)
Anna Bennett (Konan) passed away peacefully on July 3, 1999, in Billings in her 88th year. She was a kind and gentle person who caused the world to be a sweeter place because of her life. She will be sadly missed and mourned by her sister, Mina Leonard; her brother, Max Konan; her nephew and niece, Leland and Marilyn Leonard; and all those who knew and cared for her.
"Her ways are the ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace."
--Proverbs 3:17
Visitations will begin Thursday morning at the Smith Downtown Chapel. Graveside services will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, July 9, at the Odd Fellows cemetery in Roundup. Smith Downtown Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Lois Harken Benson
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. - Lois Harken Benson, 51, formerly of Forsyth, Mont., died June 28, 1999, at the Prior Lake Health Care Center of cancer.
Cremation has taken place and a memorial service will be held in Prior Lake. A family service will be held July 17 in Mukilteo, Wash. Ballard-Sunder Funeral Home is in charge.
Ivan Wayne Brandt
GLASGOW - Ivan Wayne Brandt, 76, died Monday, July 5, 1999, at the Valley View Home.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 9, at the Evangelical Church with interment in Highland cemetery. Bell Mortuary is in charge.
Marian Bunyea
MILES CITY - Marian Bunyea, 88, died Tuesday, July 6, 1999, at the Holy Rosary Hospital of cancer.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 10, in the Chapel of Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home with interment in the family lot in the Custer County cemetery.
Marcel Carrier
SCOBEY - Marcel Carrier, 71, of Scobey, died Monday, July 5, 1999, at the Sheridan Memorial Hospital in Plentywood.
Vigil services will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 7, at St. Philip's Catholic Church. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 8, at the church with interment in the Scobey cemetery. Waller Funeral Home is in charge.
David Ray Davidson
SHERIDAN, Wyo. - David Ray Davidson, 82, died Friday, July 2, 1999, at the Sheridan V.A. Hospital.
Services will be at 2 p.m. July 15 at the Veteran Medical Center Chapel with interment in the Lee cemetery in Rosebud, Mont. Kane Funeral Home is in charge.
Mabelle Feeney
PLENTYWOOD - Mabelle Feeney died May 25, 1999.
Graveside services were held June 2 in Plentywood. A Celebration of Life will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 11, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church Fellowship Hall. Fulkerson Funeral Home is in charge.
Wanda Fritz
RIVERTON, Wyo. - Former Cody resident Wanda Fritz, 90, passed away Tuesday, July 6, 1999, at Riverton Memorial Hospital. She was born on Oct. 14, 1908, in Arlington, Kan., to Nathan and Dora McJunkin. The family moved to Vananda, Mont., in 1916. Wanda married
Dan Fritz on Nov. 30, 1930, in Billings, Mont. The couple then moved to Cody where they ranched on Sage Creek until 1960 when Dan and Wanda retired from ranching and moved into town and opened a tree spraying business which they operated until 1970. Wanda's husband preceded her in death in 1971. She lived in Cody until 1978 when she moved to Riverton to be near her family.
Wanda was a member of the Sage Creek Community Club and Grace Baptist Church. She enjoyed playing the piano and spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She enjoyed her independence and lived on her own until the time of her death.
Survivors include one sister, Nola Cummings of Downy, Calif.; sons, Jim Fritz and wife, Rosella of Jenks, Okla., Dave Fritz and wife, Charlene of Riverton; daughters, Margaret and husband, Mickey Cunningham of Riverton and Norma and husband, Leo Zmijewski of Federal Way, Wash. Survivors also include 12 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.
Wanda was preceded in death by her husband, Dan; one infant son; one great-granddaughter; two brothers, Donavan and Colee McJunkin; and two sisters, Calve Gordon and Birdena Cartwright.
Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, July 9, 1999, at Riverside cemetery in Cody.
Johanna 'Jean' Heil
SHERIDAN, Wyo. - Johanna "Jean" Heil, 85, died Monday, July 5, 1999, at her home.
Vigil services will be at 7 p.m. Friday, July 9, at Kane Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 10, at Holy Name Catholic Church.
Virgil Huffman
GLENDIVE - Virgil Huffman, age 85, of Glendive, passed away on Tuesday, July 6, 1999, at the Eastern Montana Veterans Nursing Home in Glendive.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, July 9, 1999, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Glendive with Pastor Stephen Holmes officiating. Interment with military honors will be in the Dawson Memorial cemetery in Glendive. Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home of Glendive is entrusted with arrangements.
Virgil was born on March 7, 1914, at the family home on the Retah Table located near Richey, the son of Lawton and Phoebe (Leonard) Huffman. He was raised and educated in the Retah Table area near Richey. He attended Fairview School in rural Dawson County. Virgil made his first land purchase at the age of 12. He remained on the family farm until 1941 when he entered the U.S. Army, serving during World War II in Alaska and Germany. He married
Bessie Frantz on April 24, 1944, in Glendive. Upon his discharge from the military, he and Bessie returned to Montana to the Retah Table area near Richey where they owned and operated a farming and ranching operation. Bessie preceded in him death on Aug. 12, 1998.
Virgil had served on the board of directors of the Farmers Union of Richey. He had also served on the Divide School board for many years. Virgil was the type of neighbor that was always there to lend a helping hand. Virgil had a great love of family and was especially proud of his granddaughters. He enjoyed the farm and ranch way of life. He also enjoyed hunting, and always was very interested in his livestock.
Survivors include his daughter, Virginia Tipton and her husband, Les of Glendive; his son, Virgil "Ted" Huffman II of Richey; two granddaughters, Tana and Chandra Tipton of Glendive; his brother-in-law, Lawrence Cartmell of Glendive.
Lyle Harrison Hunter
MILES CITY - Lyle Harrison Hunter, 79, died Saturday, July 3, 1999, at the Holy Rosary Health Center.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 9, in the Chapel of Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home with interment in the Veterans section in the Custer County cemetery.
Mabel May Ketterling
WORDEN - Mabel May Ketterling, 90, of Worden, passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home Sunday, July 4, 1999,
She was born June 21, 1909, in Waverly, Iowa, the daughter of Steve and Musetta (Greeley) Hicks. She was raised north of Miles City near Crow Rock. On Nov. 22, 1930, she married
Adam Ketterling in Crow Rock. To this union 14 children were born.
Mabel loved to embroider, garden and care for her children and grandchildren. Her favorite pastime was to watch the Chicago Cubs baseball teams play.
She worked for several years at the Ballantine Greenhouse, planting and caring for the plants.
Survivors include three sons, Harold of Worden, Steve of Billings, and Adam of Hardin; five daughters, Vi Steiner, Margaret Hice and Geraldine Belless, all of Billings, Leona Sampson of Ballantine and Donna Hubbard of Newman Lake, Wash.; 31 grandchildren and 49 great-grandchildren.
Mabel was preceded in death by three daughters, Dora Jones, Betty Clark, Florence Ring; three sons, Lawrence Ketterling, Leonard Ketterling and Leroy Ketterling; her husband, Adam Ketterling; and four grandchildren, Robert Ketterling, Myron, Nanette and Michelle Ring.
Funeral service will be 10 a.m. Thursday, July 8, at the Smith Downtown Chapel. Cremation has taken place. Interment of cremains will be at Mountview cemetery in Billings.
