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Charles F. Cordes
1920-2002
Charles F. Cordes, 82, of Stevensville, went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, March 13, 2002.
Charlie passed away at the Bitterroot Valley Living Center in Stevensville with family at his side.
Charlie was born of German parents on January 6, 1920, in Brooklyn, New York.
He was the youngest of six children and lived most of his life in New York.
He moved to California in 1952.
He went to work for McDonald Douglas from 1956 to 1981 as an electrical engineer.
He was very active in the Catholic Church, studying and teaching theology for over 40 years.
He was also a 4th degree Knights of Columbus, and very active in his community of Stevensville.
Charlie is survived by seven of eight children, 16 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren.
Vigil Services were held on Monday, March 18 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Stevensville.
Mass of the Christian Burial was on Tuesday, March 19 at the Catholic Church with Father Michael Smith officiating.
Should friends desire, memorials may be made to the Stevensville Garden Club, St. Mary's Mission or to the Stevensville Museum.
Whitesitt Funeral Home in Stevensville is in charge of arrangements.
Robert L. Taylor
Robert L. Taylor, 79, of Stevensville, passed away Wednesday, March 13, 2002, at his home in Stevensville.
Dowling Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the Taylor family.
Donald A. Albright
1938-2004
Donald A. Albright, son of Albert and Ruth Albright, was born September 7, 1938. He died on Wednesday, February 25, 2004. He was 65.
Don grew up in Missoula, where he was an excellent student and athlete.
As a junior at Missoula County High School, he was the state champion in golf.
Don later graduated ninth out of 309 students.
From there, he was accepted to Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts on a Navy ROTC scholarship, where he earned a BA in economics.
Continuing his academic excellence at Harvard, Don made the Dean's List in all eight semesters while graduating in the top 25% of his class in 1960.
Upon graduation, Don was commissioned as an officer in the Marines and served four years at Treasure Island Naval Station.
It was here that he met and married
Jo Bowen in 1963.
Don and Jo were married
41 years.
Don then moved into the Reserve until 1966 where he reached the rank of captain.
After leaving the service Don entered into a long career in finance.
He worked for Wells Fargo from 1963 to 1981 and served as the vice-president and manager of the Chico, CA branch.
Don later was the president and CEO of North State National Bank from 198 to 1986 as the bank grew from a startup bank to a $52 million institution.
He was lecturer at CSU, Chico in the Department of Finance from 1987 to 1992 where he taught personal and business finance.
In 1994 he moved back to Montana to be near his mother and became vice president and a loan officer for Rocky Mountain Bank in Stevensville.
In 2001 Don and Jo moved to Orland, CA to be near their grandchildren.
Don was now suffering badly from emphysema and asthma, yet he insisted on driving his grandsons Matthew and Jordan Silva to school every morning, and then babysitting his granddaughter Isabella and newborn grandson Ian in the afternoon.
He also enjoyed watching the boys play Little League and soccer and watching them advance through Boy Scouts.
In his non-grandchild centered time, Don loved to sit in the sun and read the books he got from the Orland Public Library.
He was also an avid 49ers and Montana Grizzlies fan.
He is survived by wife Jo Albright, daughter Lori Silva and her husband Brett, his grandchildren Matthew, Jordan, Isabella and Ian, all of Orland, CA; mother Ruth Ulrigg of Missoula and in-laws Jean and Jerry West and their children Jenny, Joel and Julie who all live on the East Coast.
Don was an extraordinary man who wanted to live an ordinary life.
His new occupation is playing with his son, Michael, who Don had not seen since 1973 when Mike was killed by a speeding car.
They have some catching up to do.
Funeral services were at the Orland Methodist-Presbyterian Federated Church on Saturday, February 28.
Contributions may be made to a trust fund for Don's grandchildren through F.D. Sweet & Son, 825 A. Street, Orland CA 95963.
Joyce Meckler
1936-2004
Joyce Nona Marlene Meckler, 67, of Stevensville died Saturday, March 6, 2004 following a long battle with cancer.
She was born on June 4, 1936, in Butte and was the daughter of Robert and Irene Henderson.
On June 20, 1954, she married
Richard Meckler in Missoula.
The couple lived in a small trailer in Ovando and worked at a sawmill owned by her parents.
In 1962 they moved to the Bitterroot Valley.
They worked at a dairy farm and she later did waitress work in the valley, which she became a professional at.
Joyce loved riding horses, camping and being in the outdoors.
She was a giving, sharing person and always was there to give help to anyone who needed it.
She was preceded in death by her son, Robin, her parents Irene and Robert and a brother Wallace Henderson.
Joyce is survived by her daughter Tami of Helena, and sons, Shannon of Missoula, Trent of Stevensville and Dick of Hamilton and nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, March 10 at 2 p.m. at the Whitesitt Funeral Home in Stevensville, with Pastor Stephen Valentine officiating.
A reception will follow services.
Celeste Engel
1924-2004
Celeste Engel, 80, passed away on January 25, 2004 at Daly Memorial Hospital in Hamilton.
She and her late husband Albert Engel did their summer geologic field work in the northwest Adirondack Mountains of New York state for eight years.
They taught at Cal Tech in Pasadena, CA and at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, CA for several years.
They wanted to find a summer place in the west to unwind after nine months of teaching and research each year.
They loved to look at rock formations, fossils and land forms.
Celeste's husband Albert traveled around the world from Egypt to Nepal on field trips.
In 1964 they explored different parts of Montana looking for that special place.
They both fell in love with the Bitter Root and purchased Jim and Maggie Kenely's farm on Big Creek north of Victor.
They also had a part-time home at Borego Springs, CA.
The Engels loved the pine woods on their Victor farm, the Bitter Root flowers growing on their land, the peace and quiet, finding wild mushrooms, and even the rocks they liked to study.
Albert passed away in March 1995.
Celeste published books and many articles and wrote lots of informative letters to local newspaper editors.
Her most well-known book was "Rocks in My Head."
Celeste dearly loved her dogs which always rode in her car with her.
She is survived by two sons and their wives, Bob in Vermont and Tom in California.
Celeste will always be missed by her many Bitter Root friends and neighbors.
Harry Lloyd Miller
1909-2004
Harry Lloyd Miller, 94, of Polson, passed away on Saturday, March 6, 2004 at St. Joseph Hospital in Polson from natural causes.
He was born November 9, 1909 to Don L. and Julia Wood Miller, at Perry, Kansas, and moved to the Miller family ranch in 1913, Burnt Fork Ranch, near Stevensville.
Harry attended and graduated from Stevensville High School, and at age 16 he received a two-year scholarship to the University of Montana, earning a B.S. in Chemistry.
He rode his 1926 Harley Davidson motorcycle East to seek his fortune.
In Washington DC, Lloyd gained employment in the Department of Agriculture as a laboratory assistant.
The U.S. Air Force at Pensacola, Florida was beginning a student cadet flight training program and he was one of the original flying cadets.
Returning to civilian life, he was employed by Western Electric Company in Washington DC, as an electrical engineer.
After 35 years, in 1972 he retired as a Senior Staff electrical engineer.
Lloyd was also affiliated with Bell Telephone Laboratories as a designing engineer and has several electronic patents to his credit.
He was a member of the Telephone Pioneers of America.
Lloyd and his artist wife Josephine arrived in Polson from Maryland on July 4, 1981.
Several years ago at the age of 90 he acquired his first computer and became knowledgeable in today's computer technology.
He was a soft spoken person with a subtle sense of humor.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a son Earl L. Miller, brothers Lewis, Junius and John.
He is survived by his wife Josephine (Jo) Miller and several nephews.
Cremation has taken place and no services are planned.
Private inurnment of his cremains will be held at Maplewood cemetery, Stevensville.
Cremation and arrangements under the direction of Grogan Funeral Home and Crematory, Polson.
George M. Brown
1920-2004
George M. Brown passed away peacefully Monday March 1, 2004 at a hospital in California.
George and Lois retired to the Bitterroot in 1976 where they spent glorious summers at their Corvallis cabin.
His love for his wife was matched by his love of the out of doors and his passion for fly fishing.
They spent many a day together floating the Bitterroot and fishing the mountain streams.
George was born in Santa Clara, California on March 7, 1920.
He grew up on the family pear ranch which was started by his grandfather in 1868.
After a college career in horticulture at UC Davis he served as captain in the US Army Air Corp during World War II, flying fighters in the South Pacific, earning the Air Medal and Purple Heart.
While in the service on July 1, 1944 he married
his high school sweetheart, Lois Jean Silver.
He was a leader in the agriculture industry and the community where he served as President of the Jefferson Union School District Board of Trustees and the Santa Clara Cold Storage and Freezer Company.
George was active in Rotary, both in Montana, California and the international scholarship program as well as the Santa Clara Masonic Lodge.
Always active in youth activities such as AFS student exchange, he was founder and president of the Jefferson Youth Center Board and worked for many years to raise funds to build the Jefferson Youth Center.
His love and dedication to the Boy Scouts he passed on to his son and grandson.
And George loved to have fun, hitting the ski slopes with his family as often as possible.
That zest passed down to his daughter with laughter abounding at Lost Trail.
George and Lois had a magic between them.
And to his friends, most of all he'll be remembered for his infectious giggle.
He is survived by the love of his life for 59 years, Lois; Susi, forever the "farmers daughter"; his namesake George Miller Brown III and his wife Patricia and their son Andrew.
An American Field Service exchange student, Katrien Vandendreissche, is his "Belgian daughter."
He is also survived by his brother, Walter Brown, and his sister, Shirley Fischer and many nieces and nephews.
In memory, donations may be made to the Bitter Root Valley Historical Society, Trout Unlimited or Bitterroot Humane Society.
