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Roy Higgins
Roy L. Higgins, 87, died Friday evening, May 16, 2003, at his home in Troy.
He was born at Spooner, Wis., on May 12, 1916, to Oliver and Vera Higgins.
Roy moved to Montana with his family and was raised and educated at Havre.
He married Marjorie Beck at Havre on Oct. 20, 1939.
Roy and Marjorie moved to Bigfork in 1946 where they lived for many years. Roy was a machinist and millwright for the Kalmont Lumber Company until retiring in 1981.
He enjoyed the outdoors, photography and fishing. He shared his skills as a handyman with family, friends and neighbors. He was particularly adept at inventing small household conveniences.
Roy and Marjorie have lived in Troy since 1997.
Survivors in addition to his wife Marjorie, Troy, are son Ron Higgins, Troy; sisters Ruth Springer and Julia Larson, both of Havre; grandchildren Heidi Williams and her husband Wayne, Seattle; Jeremy Higgins and his wife Yan, San Francisco; Shannen Rohrich and her husband Treves, Troy; Kristen Hutchison and her husband Tony, Hayden Lake, Idaho; and four great-grandchildren, Kaylee Williams and Joseph Williams, Seattle, and Brady Thompson and Sammy Rohrich, Troy.
Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Friday at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Les Nelson officiating.
Memorials may be made to the American Diabetis Association.
Lester Potter
Former Libby resident Lester R. Potter, 72, died April 28, 2003, in Eagle Creek, Ore.
He was born on Sept. 17, 1930, at Kansas City, Mo., to John and Minnie Potter.
As a teenager he moved with his parents to California where he graduated from Ukiah High School.
Lester joined the U.S. Army right out of high school in 1947 and was honorably discharged in 1951.
On April 25, 2003, surrounded by family members and friends, the 72-year-old Eagle Creek man received two long-awaited Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, a Korean Service Medal and a Japanese Occupation Award for injuries suffered in the Korean War.
Lester married Alsace Senum on July 25, 1952, at San Francisco, Calif. They were later divorced.
Lester worked for Continental Baking Co. in San Francisco for 25 years.
In 1974 he moved to Eagle Creek and then to Estacada, Ore., in 1978.
Lester was employed as a campgrounds maintenance man for the U.S. Forest Service, retiring in 1995.
After retiring he moved to Libby.
Lester returned to Eagle Creek to be close to his family after being diagnosed with cancer.
Survivors include children Leslie R. Batchelor, Michael A. Potter, Greg R. Potter and Randall J. Potter; sisters June C. Norman, Edna M. Battles, Mary E. Burke, Betty J. Lamb, Elvina L. Cornell and Katherine F. Lamb, and 11 grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by three grandchildren.
Services were conducted at Clackamas Valley Baptist Church on May 2, with burial following at the Willamette National Cemetery.
Contributions in Lester’s memory can be made to the American Cancer Society.
Estacada Funeral Chapel was in charge of arrangements.
Raymond Spady
Longtime Libby resident Raymond Earl Spady, 74, died May 14, 2003, at St. John’s Lutheran Hospital.
He was born on Jan. 12, 1929, at Bozeman, to Albert and Ruby Murry Spady.
Ray grew up at Bonner and White Sulphur Springs and moved to the Libby area in 1948.
He was in the Army Reserves until 1956.
Ray retired from Champion in 1991, after working for the lumber company and its predecessors for more than 38 years. Ray married Doloris Hansen in 1949.
He was preceded in death by his father Albert in 1991, his mother Ruby in 2002, son Steven in 1968, and a sister and grandson Larry in 1984.
Survivors include his wife Doloris, Libby; children Vern and Charlene Byington, Columbia Falls; Donna Siefke, Newberg, Ore., Everett and Dora Byington, Beaverton, Ore.; Stuart and Joanne Spady, Libby; sisters Marjorie and Dorothy, Ruth Quiring and her husband Dave, Dallas, Ore.; Lois Hunter and her husband Bill, White Sulphur Springs; Vivian Bernard and her husband Wayne, Bremerton, Wash.; and JoAnne Shultz and her husband Byron, Eugene, Ore.; 15 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.
Services were conducted at 2 p.m. Monday at the City of Libby Cemetery. Arrangements were under direction of Nelson & Vial Funeral Home.
George Vogt
George C. Vogt Jr., 96, who coached the Libby High School Terriers to a state football championship in 1932, died May 16, 2003, at Hamilton.
He was born on Nov. 4, 1905, at Hamilton, to George Vogt Sr., and his wife Maude Crooks Vogt.
George grew up on the family’s East Fork area ranch that combined the homesteads of his father and grandfather. He attended grade school in the nearby Sulu Schoolhouse.
In high school at Hamilton, George earned the nickname “Stag.”
After graduating from high school at Hamilton and taking a year off to earn money, George enrolled at Montana State College in Bozeman.
He played right guard for the Bobcat football team and ran the quarter mile and hurdles in track. He also played on the basketball scrimmage team at a time when the Bobcats went 72-4 and won the national championship.
George graduated from MSC in 1929 and took a job at Libby High School, beginning what would become a long and distinguished teaching-coaching career.
After coaching and teaching chemistry and industrial arts in Libby for four years, George took a job at Fergus County High School at Lewistown where his starting salary as a teacher-coach was $1,400 a year.
At Lewistown George met his future wife, fellow teacher Josephine McGlumphy. After their marriage in 1939, they temporarily retired from teaching and moved back to Sula to take over operation of the family cattle ranch and raise their children, Margo and Steve.
They returned to teaching in 1956.
As longtime educators George and Josephine touched the lives of hundreds of students, some of whom continued to write letters to George as recently as a month ago.
Preceded in death by his wife and daughter Margo, George is survived by his son and daughter-in-law Stephen and Janie Vogt, lifelong friends Zelma Hartley and June Howe, brother-in-law Bill McGlumphy and his wife Renata, friends John and Molly Munk and cousin Bill MacCracken and his family.
When the weather warms Steve and Janie Vogt, along with a few close friends, will place George’s ashes next to those of his beloved wife in the cemetery that his father and grandfather donated to the Sula community almost a century ago.
Donations can be made to the Hamilton Elks Scholarship Fund, Hamilton Elks Lodge 1651, 203 State Street, Hamilton MT 59840.
Leslie Duane LeCount
Leslie Duane LeCount, 54, formerly of Troy, died at Gig Harbor, Wash., on May 11, 2003 of a heart attack.
He was born July 8, 1949 at Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and grew up on Troy.
Survivors include his wife Valla, several children, brothers Alford of Troy, Virgene of Spokane, Wash., half-brothers Michael of Troy, Robert, Stephen and Terry; half sisters Kathy and Julia.
Private services will be held at his home in Gig Harbor after cremation.
Floyd Hartry
Floyd E. Hartry, 80, died Wednesday, May 7, at the Libby Care Center.
He was born at Hannah, N.D., on Aug. 1, 1922 to George and Christina Hartry.
He was raised and educated in North Dakota and later served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
For many years, he had been a ranch and farm worker in eastern Montana, coming to Libby following his retirement 15 years ago. He had been a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was preceded in death by four brothers and a niece.
Survivors include a daughter, Gina Kessel of Bismark, N.D.; and sons Joe Hartry of Minot, N.D.; Roger and David Hartry, both of California; a sister, Thelma Larsen of Libby; a brother, Jim Hartry of Marion; numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
Services will be Wednesday, May 14, at 11 a.m. at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home; interment services with military honors will follow at the City of Libby Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1-8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.
