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Grace A. Shoop Joppa
JOLIET - Grace A. Shoop Joppa, 97, of Joliet, died Wednesday, Dec. 30, 1999, at St. John's Lutheran Home in Billings.
The daughter of W. Wayne and Cora Shay Shoop, Grace was born on July 26, 1902, in White Cloud, Iowa. She graduated from Laurel High School.
In November of 1929 she married
Carl A. Joppa, and they farmed three miles west of Edgar until 1970 when they moved into Joliet. Mr. Joppa died in 1971. Grace remained in her own home in Joliet until October of 1998 when she moved to St. John's Lutheran Home.
She was a 50 year member of the American Legion Auxiliary in Fromberg. She was also active in the home demonstration clubs, the Senior Citizens, the Joliet Christian Church and the Eastern Star. She loved her yard and gardening.
Survivors include four children, Leonard "Bob" Joppa (Catherine) of Fargo, N.D., Jean Armstrong (Bill) of Havre, Linda Armstrong (Merrill) of Roundup, and Steve Joppa (Evelyn) of Helena; one sister, Elsie Bachmann of St. John's Lutheran Home; 16 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, six brothers and two sisters.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 3, in the Joliet Christian Church. Interment will be in the Rockvale cemetery with Olcott Funeral Chapel of Red Lodge in charge of arrangements.
Memorials may be given to the American Legion or to the charity of one's choice.
Mildred Irene Larson
PLENTYWOOD - Mildred Irene Larson, 88, died Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1999, at Sheridan Memorial Nursing Home in Plentywood.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000, at Plentywood Lutheran Church. Interment will be in Plentywood Memorial cemetery. Fulkerson Funeral Home is in charge.
John Murphy
MILES CITY - John Murphy, 80, died Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1999, at St. Vincent Hospital in Billings.
A vigil service will be held at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2000, in the chapel of Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Miles City. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 3, in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Rite of Committal will follow in the Calvary cemetery. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home is in charge.
Floyd William Kipf
SUNDANCE, Wyo. - Floyd William Kipf, 84, formerly of Miles City, Mont., died Tuesday, Dec. 28, 1999, at the Crook County Nursing Home in Sundance.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 3, 2000, at the Grace Bible Church. Interment will follow in the Custer County cemetery. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home of Miles City is in charge.
Juanita C. Bell
COEUR d'ALENE, Idaho - Juanita C. Bill, 83, of Coeur d' Alene, died Saturday, Dec. 25, 1999, at Kootenai Medical Center. She was born May 19, 1916, in Molt, Mont., to Hiram and Mary Chestnut.
She attended schools in Molt and Billings. She married
James Larson in 1934 and they later divorced. At the beginning of WWII, she moved to southern California and worked in the aircraft factories. In 1948, she married
Frank Bell. They moved to Montana in 1952 where she worked as a sales clerk at Hart Albin's. From 1971 until 1978, they lived in Salt Lake City where she worked for J.C. Penney's. After returning to Billings, she worked at Herberger's until she retired.
They moved to Coeur d' Alene in 1989 where she enjoyed volunteering at the Coeur d'Alene Senior Center. He preceded her in death in 1991.
She is survived by a son, Randy Bell of Coeur d'Alene; a daughter, Donna Reider of Ventura, Calif.; six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held in Billings at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 30, at the Smith West Chapel, 304 34th St. W., with interment to follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens. Smith West Chapel is in charge of local arrangements.
Lucy Killsnight Red Hat
LAME DEER - Lucy died on Friday, Dec. 24, 1999, at St. Vincent Hospital after a short illness. She was born on April 7, 1930, in Ashland to Carrie Red Robe and Willis Killsnight. In 1959 she married
Jasper Red Hat in Oklahoma. She was a housewife who loved to cook and do beadwork. Lucy was a very hospitable, caring and generous person. In the Cheyenne traditional way, whenever any member of her family or friends needed help, she was always there to support them.
Lucy is survived by her sons, Jasper and Roger and her daughter, Lisa Red Hat; adopted daughters, Elizabeth Braided Hair and Emma Little Bear; adopted son, Martin Sierra, whom she raised as her own; eight grandchildren; one great-grandson, Keenan Jamal Not Afraid; one half-brother, Henry Sioux.
Her parents, brothers, Ralph and James Killsnight, one sister, Mary Killsnight White Wolf, preceded her in death. She was a member of the Native American Church and Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. God bless you, Lucy, we will always remember your kindness and gentle ways.
Wake service was held Wednesday evening the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Lame Deer. Funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday (today) at the church, with burial in the Lame Deer cemetery. Rausch Funeral Home of Lame Deer is in charge of funeral arrangements.
Larry Vowles
LANDER, Wyo. - Larry Vowles, 53, died Dec. 21, 1999, at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper. He was born Jan. 11, 1946, in Kirkland, Ill., to George and Virginia Vowles. He was a graduate of Hiawatha High School, Colorado State University with a B.S. in biology, and University of Northern Colorado with a master's degree in botany. He served in the United States Air Force.
He lived in Lander and was a professor of science at Central Wyoming College where he taught biology, chemistry, physics, and astronomy. He enjoyed teaching, fishing, camping, golf and Chicago Cubs baseball.
He is survived by his parents of Irene, Ill.; his wife, Rose, of Lander; daughters, Cindy of Fort Collins, Colo.; Lara of Burlington, Va.; and Tonya of Lander; a son, Timothy Vowles of Colorado; one brother, Russell Vowles of Kirkland, Ill.; one grandson, four aunts, three uncles, two nephews, one niece, and numerous cousins.
Services will be held at noon on Jan. 3, 2000, at Central Wyoming College in Riverton at the Fine Arts Center.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Central Wyoming College Foundation in memory of Larry Vowles.
Claudine M. Buckingham
CODY, Wyo. - Claudine M. Buckingham 89, died Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1999, at the Powell Nursing Home in Powell.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 3, at Christ Episcopal Church in Cody with interment in Riverside cemetery.
Leslie Cisna
SIDNEY - Leslie Cisna, 62, died Monday, Dec. 27, 1999, at the Sidney Health Center-Extended Care Facility.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 31, at the Zion Lutheran Church. Interment will be in the Richland Memorial Park, Sidney. Fulkerson Funeral Home of Sidney is in charge.
May Wright
SIDNEY - Funeral services for May Wright, 91, Sidney, will be 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 3, 2000, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with President Lloyd Thompson officiating. Interment will be in the Medora cemetery, Medora, N.D., at 2 p.m., under the direction of Fulkerson Funeral Home of Sidney.
Gladys May Wright was born on March 9, 1908, in Hot Springs, S.D., to parents Samuel G. and Bessie Pearl (Strickland) Anderson. She attended school in Blythdale and Ridgeway, Mo., graduating in June, 1929, and attended teachers training. She got a teaching job in the Ridgeway area.
Before school started, May went to Chicago, to visit an aunt. She did not go back to Missouri to teach. She became employed at the University of Chicago and spent 36 years there as an x-ray technician. In October 1932, May was united in marriage to Jack C. Wright. The Wrights had no children.
May died Tuesday, Dec. 28, 1999, at the Roosevelt Memorial Nursing Home, Culbertson, Mont.
May is survived by her brother, Verne Anderson and wife, Evelyn; seven nephews and five nieces.
She is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Jack in 1947; two sisters, Blanche and Inez; four brothers, Lester, Jesse (Andy), Woodrow (Woody) and Olaf.
Fellows Pease
BAR NUNN, Wyo. - Fellows Pease, 77, passed away at home on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 1999.
Fellows, an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe, was born on March 1, 1922, in Philadephia, a son of Dave and Ida Pease. He was named after his great- grandfather, Major Fellows David Pease, the first civilian Indian agent for the Crow Reservation.
He was raised and educated in Lodge Grass, Mont. At 17, Fellows started work as a machinist and telephone repairman in the CCC. In August of 1942, he joined the Army and served in the Signal Corps in the European Campaign during WWII. He was at the Invasion of Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. In November of 1945, he was honorably discharged and returned to the Lodge Grass area where he worked as a house painter. Fellows became an expert dragline operator, working for the BIA, Silvertip Construction Company and the Bureau of Reclamation.
Fellows enjoyed doing machine work in his home shop, hunting in the Big Horns, and fishing. He was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. This summer he enjoyed visiting Yellowstone Park with his family.
He married
Beatrice Ockert on May 25, 1947, in Lodge Grass, Mont. Together they had four children. They made their first home in Lodge Grass and later moved to Wind River, Wyo. In 1952, the family moved to Powell, Wyo. Following his divorce from Beatrice in 1968, he married
Leah A. Egan on Sept. 21, 1970. The couple lived briefly in Cody, Wyo. before moving to Bar Nunn.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Leah, his parents, his sister, Virginia and his half sister, Veta.
He is survived by his children, Michael (Donella), David (Linda) and Francis of Powell, and Delores of Hardin, Mont., his brother, John (Kathleen) of Hardin, and his sisters, Eldah Captain of Hardin, and Clara Ann Meyers of Anchorage, Alaska, four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, one stepson, several step-grandchildren and his good friends, Jim and Lou Alley of Bar Nunn.
Cremation has taken place and a memorial will be celebrated in the spring on the Big Horn Mountains.
Hilda Christensen
PLENTYWOOD - Hilda Christensen, 94, died Sunday, Dec. 26, 1999, at Sheridan Memorial Hospital.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 30, at Reserve Lutheran Church. Interment will be in Nathanael cemetery, near Dagmar. Fulkerson Funeral Home of Plentywood is in charge.
Myra Gustafson
WILLISTON, N.D. - Myra Gustafson, 74. longtime Culbertson resident, lately of Williston, passed away early Tuesday morning, Dec. 28, 1999, in the Mercy Medical Center in Williston.
Her funeral will be Thursday, Dec. 30, 1999, at 10:30 a.m. (MST) at the Culbertson Methodist Church. Rev. Tim Hutslar and Rev. Cliff Nelson will officiate, and interment will be in Hillside cemetery in Culbertson.
A family service, open to the general public, will be Wednesday at 5 p.m. (CST) in Everson Memorial Chapel.
Myra Swindells was born Oct. 25, 1925, in Brainerd, Minn., to Charles and Myra (Miller) Swindells, the third of five daughters.
She went to school in Laporte, Minn., and graduated from Laporte High School. Myra then attended two years of college in Bemidji, Minn., where she received her degree in teaching. She also worked for four summers at Itasca State Park in Minnesota.
Myra came to Montana in 1946 and taught at the Sunny Hill School by Dagmar and later at the Lee School, south of Culbertson, where she met her future husband. Myra was united in marriage to Conrad Gustafson on June 1, 1947, by her father, Rev. Charles Swindells, at her parents' cabin near LePorte, Minn. Myra remained very proud of her English heritage.
This started her career as a farm and ranch wife for the next 52 years at their place south of the Culbertson. Her first years of marriage were spent mostly raising her family of five boys. In later years she did some substitute teaching; she found much enjoyment in the practice of teaching and relating those experiences to the kids.
Myra became very involved in promoting and operating the Culbertson Museum. She was an avid card player. Myra enjoyed cooking, which she will be remembered for by many, and was planning this New Year's feed, right up to the time of her death. Myra was very active in the Culbertson Methodist Church, from teaching Sunday School to participating in women's groups. She also enjoyed her church in Williston and its activities until her health failed.
She is survived by her husband, Conrad of Williston; four sons and their wives, Kenneth and Bobbie Gustafson of Williston, Victor and Twyla Gustafson of Sidney, Mont., John and Jeri Gustafson and Brian and Penney Gustafson, all of Culbertson, Mont.; 14 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren, and her sister, Mary Oleander of Nevis, Minn.
Myra was preceded in death by her parents; one son, David; three sisters, Florence Lyman, Dora Lind, Lavina Lindahl; and two infant brothers.
Friends may call at Everson Funeral Home of Williston from noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday and at Culbertson Methodist Church for the hour preceding the funeral. Everson-Clayton Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Malvina Janette Emerson Blackburn
Malvina Janette Emerson Blackburn died Monday, Dec. 27, 1999. at West Park Village. Janette was born March 1, 1908, in New London, Ohio, to Dollie Vere Cunningham and Guy Parker Emerson.
She attended elementary school in New London and graduated from Alpena (Mich.) High School. She moved to Alpena with her parents and sister Isabel when her father, along with his brothers-in-law, established the Alpena Garment Co. Janette graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA degree in journalism in 1930. After graduation5 she worked for the C.E. Ward Co. in New London and Halle Bros. Company in Cleveland.
Janette married
Alan Russell Blackburn Jr. on Nov. 26, 1937, at the Little Church Around The Corner in New York City. They lived in New York City prior to World War 11. During the war, they resided in Avon, Conn., where Alan directed an army rehabilitation program for blind soldiers. Following the war, they established a home in Bay Village, Ohio, until Alan's retirement in 1971, when they moved to Billings.
Janette was a member of the United Methodist Church from her youth. She served as a volunteer for the Association for the Retarded in Cleveland for 17 years and was a past associate of the Yellowstone Art Center. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her sister, Isabel Emerson Shipman, and her brother-in-law, William Dick Shipman.
She is survived by her niece Shirley Steele and family, including her husband Ben, son Sean, and daughters Rosemarie Steele and Julie Jorgenson; and cousins in Ohio and Michigan.
A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 2, at West Park Village. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to First United Methodist Church or the charity of one's choice. Michelotti, Sawyers & Nordquist has charge of arrangements.
