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LOIS LARSON OVITT
Lois Lee Larson Ovitt, 66, of Joliet, left us for the Lord on April 2, 2002. She was born May 26, 1935 in Victor to Carl and Amy Larson.
Lois married Ralph Ovitt on April 12, 1953. They made their home in Dillon, Dixon and Joliet. They also lived in Japan, where Ralph served in the Air Force.
She was always be remembered for her community work. Lois was very active in the Fromberg Methodist Church, UMW, helped organize plans for the Joliet Community Center, was a member of the VFW and Carbon County Health Association, and over the years participated in numerous civic organizations and activities.
Her greatest joys in life were her family, music, flowers and playing the organ for her church.
Surviving relatives are her loving husband, Ralph; daughters: Cheryl (Doug) Morigeau of Dixon, Sandi Ovitt of Ravalli County, Laurel Ovitt of Whitehall and Kathie Ovitt of Park City; sons: Mike Ovitt of Tucson, Ariz. and Mark (Cindy) Ovitt of Joliet; one brother, Lloyd Larson of Drummond, and one sister, Sharon Larson of Juneau, Alaska. Lois was blessed with 15 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Her parents and two brothers preceded her in death.
She will be greatly missed by all.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 6, 2002 at 2 p.m. at the Wesleyan Church in Joliet.
Memorials and donations may be made to the Fromberg United Methodist Church or the Joliet Community Center. Dahl Funeral Chapel of Red Lodge is in charge of arrangements.
MARY P. ALMER
BILLINGS — Mary P. Almer, 73, of Billings, formerly of Red Lodge, went to be with the Lord and her husband on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at St. John’s Lutheran Home where she had resided the past four years.
Mary was born on Jan. 4, 1929 in Miller, Kan., a daughter of Joseph and Mary Potter. Her family came to Red Lodge in 1934 where she was raised and educated. They moved to Billings where Mary graduated from Billings Senior High School in 1947.
On July 31, 1948 she was married to Gordon Almer in Billings. They resided in Billings, later moving to Red Lodge in 1962. In 1990 Gordon and Mary returned to Billings. She was preceded in death by her husband on Nov. 30, 1994.
Mary’s hobbies included knitting, embroidery, jigsaw and crossword puzzles.
Survivors include two daughters, Janie (John) Michelcic of Red Lodge, and Nancy Almer and her fiancé Marty Bracha of Moore; one son, Bill Almer of Billings; four grandchildren, Russ Michelcic, Paula (Neal) Rioux, Sara (Mike) Dunn and Philip Almer; and six great-grandchildren, Steven Roat, MacKenzie, Shelbi Jo and Maycie Michelcic, and Jessica and Kalee Rioux.
Graveside services were held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 25 in Rockvale Cemetery. Smith-Olcott Funeral Chapel of Red Lodge was in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be given to St. John’s Lutheran Home.
JORDAN J. WEBBER III
BRIDGER — Jordan Webber, age 76, left this world in just the way he wanted. Early on a spring day in May he left the house with his dog to set water in his irrigated pasture. Before he got the water running, he must have tired. He lay down in the tall grass beside the ditch to take a nap, and never awoke.
Smith-Olcott Funeral Chapel of Red Lodge was in charge of arrangements. Funeral Mass was held Saturday, May 25 at Sacred Heart Church in Bridger, followed by interment at the Bridger Cemetery. Please send memorials to Clarks Fork Rural Fire District, or Clarks Fork Valley EMS.
Jordan J. Webber III was the last of nine children born to immigrant parents, German-French Jordan J. Webber II and Hungarian Rosalia Pospisil Webber on Aug. 24, 1925 in the family farmhouse near Elysian School outside Billings. In 1928 the family purchased their farm south of Bridger. Jordan attended New Prospect Grade School, walking every day, three miles, uphill, in deep snow, both ways, and graduated from Bridger High School in 1943.
That summer he joined the US Army Air Force, and completed an extensive two-year training program as a photo reconnaissance pilot in highly modified Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter planes. With all armament removed to make room for cameras, the plane’s only defense was speed. Casualty rates for reconnaissance pilots, already very high in Europe, were expected to be much worse when invading Allies faced the fierce defenses of Japanese home islands. Jordan was ready to ship out for service over Japan in August 1945 when the atomic bombs ended the war. Jordan’s wife and offspring owe a debt of gratitude to Col. Paul Tibbets and his B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay. Thanks to them, Jordan survived the war to marry and raise a family, though because he had not left U.S. soil as a serviceman, he could never join the Veterans of Foreign Wars, a lifelong regret.
Along with thousands of other pilots, Jordan was mustered out of the Army Air Force in December 1945 with an honorable discharge, but he continued to fly for a while in B-24 bombers as a member of the Air Force Reserve, receiving his honorable discharge in 1956. Except for his family, his flying days were the highlight of his life.
Jordan worked at various jobs in Billings for a couple of years before he got up the courage to ask Edward DeRudder, Sr., father of his high school sweetheart Bertha Marie, for her hand in marriage. The gruff, taciturn old Belgian thought about it for a bit, chewed his snoose, spit, and agreed. On a sunny day in January 1947 with a warm Chinook wind blowing, they were united in the old Sacred Heart Church, Bridger.
Next day the temperature dropped to 30 below. Their timing was good — they could keep each other warm.
Jordan and Bertha lived in Billings for a couple of years before moving to their first farm near Silesia in 1950. In 1952, they moved to the Webber clan’s farm south of Bridger.
While they raised five kids, he farmed in the summer and worked winter jobs at the rock quarry near Frannie, Wyo. and at the sugar factory in Billings. The family at one time or another had large numbers of cattle, or sheep, or hogs, or the last enterprise, egg-laying chickens. He worked full-time for the USDA Soil Conservation Service for several years, but in 1966 went back to farming full time. Then in 1971, Jordan made a major career change: he gave up farming and became an electrician and instrument repairman at the Billings Exxon Refinery. In the early ‘70’s he and Bertha built their lovely log home on land next to the family farm now owned and operated by his son, Roger, the third generation of Webber’s to do so. He worked at Exxon until a heart attack in 1987 persuaded him to take medical retirement in 1988. After recovery he spent a lot of time working with Roger on the farm and loved to help out, though the family sometimes joked that he drove farm equipment like he was flying fighter planes again, throttle to the wall. He cared for a large lawn and tended a vegetable garden, usually boasting 48 heads of cabbage. Most of those went to the Billings Rescue Mission each autumn, for which fact the family was grateful.
Jordan donated considerable time to the construction of the new Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bridger in 1956, and was active in church affairs throughout his life. It was he who built the mud grate still in use at the church’s front door with the words “Sacred Heart” woven into the steel. He served on the Bridger School Board as a member, and as its chairman when the grade school building was replaced in 1966. He served as board member or president of the Dry Creek Ditch Company on a number of occasions, and on the Farmer’s Union Co-op board. Many of his engineering efforts at land leveling and water control while working for SCS are still in use today around Carbon County. After retirement he drove bus for the Bridger Public Schools, and served for several years with the Clarks Fork Valley Ambulance Service as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician until arthritis got the better of him.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers George, Fred, and Joe; his sisters Cecelia and Celestine; and an infant daughter, Mary Anne. He is survived by his sisters Rosalie Christman of Bridger, Francis Christman of Spokane, WA, and Anna Geiger of Billings. His own surviving family includes his wife of 55 years, Bertha; daughters Cecelia Doupe of Burns Lake, British Columbia and Anita Coghlan of Billings; sons John (Becky) of Billings, Roger (Kathleen) of Bridger, Robert (Collette) of Joliet; eleven grandchildren: Kerista, Richelle, Josh, Becky, Jordan, Hallie, Helen, Nicholas, Taylor, Austin and Shayla; and one great-grandchild, Macy.
Jordan was an intelligent, self-taught man possessing many skills of mind and hands. The product of German, Hungarian, and French ancestry, he was a man of strong convictions that may have appeared to some as bull-headedness, but most times served him well. Throughout his life he held the temperament of a fighter pilot. He once wistfully observed that even though more than thirty years had passed since his own parents died, he still missed them every day. So it shall be for those who survived, knew, and loved Jordan. Happy landings.
RAOLA W. KLEPICH
SEATTLE —Raola W. Klepich, 95, of Seattle, Wash., formerly of Red Lodge, passed away on Thursday, November 21, 2002 in Seattle.
Raola Amalia Wertanen was born on December 17, 1906 in Red Lodge, a daughter of Kristian and Amalia Luoma Wertanen. She attended Red Lodge schools, was employed in Red Lodge, and worked many summers at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone Park.
On October 7, 1933 she married John G. Klepich, and they moved to Chicago where he was employed. While in Chicago, Rae worked for the Illinois Central Railroad Hospital. In 1939 they returned to Red Lodge to establish a permanent home and family.
From 1958 to 1976 Rae joined her husband in his career as an overseas highway contractor. They lived several years in Saigon, South Vietnam; Kakrapar, Gujarat State of India; and Jember, Indonesia. Between each overseas contract, Rae and her family returned to their home in Red Lodge. Rae’s travels took her across the United States and throughout much of the world. She was especially proud to have traveled to Finland, her country of heritage. In recent years Raola resided with her daughter and family in Seattle.
Raola was preceded in death by her husband in 1985; her brother, Arne Wertanen; and by her five sisters, Wilma Nivala, Martha Houtonen, Elma Martin, Laina Fluke and Elsa Erck.
Survivors include her daughter, Karen Klepich Carpenter and son-in-law Douglas Carpenter, Sr. of Seattle; one granddaughter, Johna Rae (Bob) McAfoos of Seattle; one grandson, Douglas (Rhonda) Carpenter of Red Lodge; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held Friday, Nov. 29 in Smith-Olcott Funeral Chapel. Interment was in the Red Lodge Cemetery. Memorials may be given to the Beartooth Hospital Long Term Care Unit, Box 590, Red Lodge, MT 59068, or to the charity of choice.
NELLIE M. WITCHER
Nellie M. Witcher, 86, passed away November 26, 2002, at Evergreen Laurel Health and Rehabilitation Center, of natural causes. She was born January 31, 1916 to Dick and Grace Shandy of Silesia, and was raised on the Shandy homestead north of Joliet until she married Ray Moore on September 10, 1933. They had a son, Leroy. On June 2, 1939 Nellie married Ray L. Witcher and they had a daughter, Maybelle, and a son, Kenneth. Nellie resided in Joliet and worked at the Laurel Nursing Home and the Joliet Christian Church. Ray and Nellie also managed the café at the Horseshoe Night Club in Fromberg.
Nellie is survived by two sons, Leroy (Esther) Moore of Billings and Kenneth (Lena) Witcher of Joliet, and a daughter Maybelle (Darrell) Magnus of Laurel; two sisters, Helen Brown of Forsyth and June Regnier of Billings, ten grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
Nellie was preceded in death by two husbands, Ray Moore and Ray Witcher, five brothers and one sister.
Nellie was an active life member of the VFW and Rebekah Lodge in Joliet. When she was able, she enjoyed gardening, flowers, dancing to the fiddle of Ray Witcher and her children.
Memorial services were held Wednesday, Dec. 4 at the Joliet Christian Church. Inurnment was in Rockvale Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to the Joliet Christian Church or the Rebecca Lodge.
Smith Funeral Chapel-Laurel was in charge of cremation.
DONALD J. TUNNICLIFF
Donald J. Tunnicliff, 81 of Billings, passed away Friday evening, November 22, 2002 at Eagle Cliff Manor.
The son of John and Sis Tunnicliff, Don was born December 16,1920 at the family ranch near Roberts. Following his graduation from Roberts High School, he served in the Marine Corps during WWII. Don married Marian Ekle in Red Lodge, December 5, 1945. They made their home on the family ranch where Don worked rodeo stock with his father and grandfather. In 1948 they moved to Billings where he worked for the Exxon Refinery until retiring in 1978.
Family was always the center of Don’s life. They would spend time at their trailer at Camp at the Boulder where he enjoyed the mountains and fishing. In 1990 the family purchased a ranch near Hardin where he would ride horse, herd cows, build corrals and fix fence.
Survivors include his wife Marian, daughter Connie Dunn and her husband Robert, and son Darell and his wife Robin all of Billings, grandchildren, Kaylean Lee and her husband Greg, Lynell Dunn and her two sons, Tyler and Klae.
Funeral services were held at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary with interment in Sunset Memorial Gardens.
Memorials may be made to the Red Lodge Home of Champions Rodeo or the charity of one’s choice.
