Agnes Anderson Bills

Agnes Anderson Bills (Maggie), the wife of the late John E. Bills and beloved mother of Nancy Bills died at the St. John’s Nursing Home in Billings on Monday, April 16, 2007.Maggie was born in Kalispell Montana in the beautiful Flathead Valley on June 16, 1912. She was one of five children born to Franklin Anderson and Lucy Mitchell Anderson. She attended Kalispell schools and graduated from Flathead County High School with honors and a scholarship to the University of Montana. She met her future husband, John Bills of Judith Gap, Montana, in the spring of 1931. They were married in Missoula on November 1, 1935. At the time of John’s death in 1995, they had been happily married for nearly sixty years.

As a young woman, Maggie worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Missoula and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Carson City, Nevada. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the U.S. into W.W. II, her husband, John, volunteered and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy. While he served in the Atlantic, she was employed by the Inter-Allied Information Service at Rockefeller Center, New York City. In anticipation of the birth of their child, she traveled back to Montana to be with her sister. Their daughter, Nancy, was born in Billings in August 1943. When John was transferred to the Amphibious Base at Coronado, California, to train for the war in the Pacific, she and Nancy lived in San Diego; while he was overseas, they lived in Carson City, Nevada, near family friends.

During WWII, Maggie documented the events of the war in a family scrapbook with clippings from newspapers, news magazines and letters and telegrams from John. He received a Bronze Star for heroism on Iwo Jima and served in the Philippines and Okinawa. He was present in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the surrender and was also a witness to the aftermath of the dropping of atom bombs on Japanese cities. Although the war ended for most Americans in August, 1945, it was not until November that Maggie and John were reunited. The war years were particularly memorable for her.

While John was an Inspector-Instructor for the U.S. Naval Reserve first in Reno, Nevada and then in Billings, Maggie devoted herself to caring for her husband and daughter. In Billings, she became a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church where she was a deacon; she was a charter member of the Yellowstone Art Museum. She and her family enjoyed playing golf and skiing. She was an avid reader and played bridge with friends regularly.

Both Maggie and John pursued professional education. Maggie completed her undergraduate degree in English and graduated from Montana State University—Billings with a master’s degree in Education. While her husband was a guidance counselor at Billings Senior High School, she taught English at West High School and was well respected by her students and colleagues. When she and her husband retired in 1975, they played golf at the Yellowstone Country Club, sailed with friends in Coronado, California, and traveled to Europe and Hawaii.

In the fall of 1985, weeks before her fiftieth wedding anniversary, Maggie suddenly lost her central vision to macular degeneration. Her courage and remarkable ability to adapt to this dramatic loss was greatly admired by her family and friends. John read to her regularly, and friends assisted her so that she could continue playing bridge. She especially enjoyed listening to books on tape which allowed her to continue to participate in the American Association of University Women’s Modern Literature Group.

During her lifetime, Maggie remained especially close to her sister and brothers and her nephews and nieces. She traveled to her daughter’s home in New England and celebrated in the accomplishments of her grandchildren. She made many lifelong friends, many of whom have predeceased her. She has been a resident of Billings for most of her adult life; her homes were on Princeton Street, on Park Lane, on Lloyd Mangrum Lane and at Rocky Hill Plaza.

Maggie was preceded in death by John, her husband of sixty years. She was predeceased by her older sister, Annelee Anderson Voight of Bridger and her brothers—Vernon Anderson of Lewistown, Ralph (Bill) Anderson of Kalispell, and Harold (Punk) Anderson of Bridger.

She is survived by her only child, Nancy Freund Bills, of Portland, Maine and by her two grandsons, Jeremy Freund and Joshua Freund, sons of the late John Freund. She is survived by three great-granddaughters—Olivia, Cordelia and Amelia, children of Jeremy and Amy Sutherland Freund of North Andover, Massachusetts and by a great-grandson, Jonah, and twin grandchildren, John and Hannah, children of Joshua and Jennifer Sweetman Freund of Westbrook, Connecticut.

Maggie’s sister’s three sons—Robin Voight of Beaverton, Oregon, Jerry Voight of Los Altos, California, and David Voight of Washington, D.C were especially dear to her. Her niece, Annalee Anderson of Billings, was loved and much appreciated for her devotion. All her nephews and nieces were dear to her, and she will be greatly missed by family and friends.

Cremation has taken place and a memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Billings at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, June 9^th. A monument will be placed in the Bridger Cemetery to celebrate John and Maggie’s lives. The cremated remains of John and Maggie will be inurned at the Columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, it was Maggie’s wish that memorials be made to the Talking Book Library, 1515 6^th Avenue, Helena, Montana or to the First Presbyterian Church.