|
 All
who knew Charles David "Dave" Stout agree that if every person lived their
life with his same level of kindness and respect, humor and love,
diligence, common sense and generosity, that the universe would be a
better place.
Dave came into the world on August 13, 1921, the
son of Charles Edward and Anna Voss Stout, who welcomed the
red-haired baby boy into their family during a short residency in
Park Falls, Wisconsin which is near Lake Superior. The family
returned a few years later to the area in Wyoming where the Stout
and Voss families had homesteaded, and Dave grew up and attended
school in Thermopolis. Although they were raised during the
depression, Dave and his five siblings-two older and two younger
brothers and one sister-were an upbeat bunch, who stuck together
thru thick and thin. He was particularly close to his father and the
two so resembled each other that people often had trouble telling
them apart.
On January 10, 1943 he married the love of his
life, Charlette Mobley, and the two became proud parents on March of
the following year with the birth of the first of their four
children. Although Dave most loved the outdoor life of farming and
ranching, he responded to the call of duty during WWII and enlisted
in the Navy. He was sent to the Farragut Naval Training Station Lake
Pend Oreille near Sandpoint, Idaho. They lived there on a houseboat
with their toddler son until Dave was deployed via Navy supply ship
to the Philippines. It was in the Navy that he met his life-long
friend Harvey Woolery of Kemmerer, Wyoming who preceded Dave in
death.
Following the war he returned to tilling the land
near Manderson, Wyoming. But in 1952, he and Charlette moved to
Billings with their two young children to try life in the Magic
City. Two additional children made a perfect family of two sons and
two daughters. Dave and Charlette were proud and supportive of their
children's individual accomplishments, and made numerous sacrifices
along the way for them and the generations that followed.
Dave's electrician skills were considered an asset
by Mountain Bell and he enjoyed a long career there, developing many
friendships that lasted throughout his lifetime. His boss, Tom
Soloman, became one of his dearest, long-term friends. Dave served
for a number of years on the Board of Directors for the Telephone
Company Credit Union, which is now Advanta.
In 1962 he and Charlette bought land along the
Stillwater River, purchasing adjoining lots with their next door
neighbors from Billings, the Fred Jones'. The Stout's often joked
that they spent their life "keeping up with the Jones". Over the
years, Dave crafted two cabins from "spare parts" (which really
should have been his middle name) and developed a summer residence
where he and Charlette enjoyed their families and friends for many
years.
Following Dave's retirement from Mountain Bell in
1983, the Stouts sold their home in Billings and divided their time
between their home in Sun City, California, the Stillwater cabin and
numerous travel adventures. They were devoted to several causes
including the preservation of the Historic Cobblestone School in
Absarokee. In addition they were avid participants in Telephone
Pioneers both in Billings and in California.
Dave was preceded in death by his parents; his
four brothers: Hugh, Russell, Raymond and Martin Kenneth "Sam"
Stout; and his beloved wife of 62 years for whom he was primary
caregiver during her 5-year battle with Parkinson's.
After Charlette passed away, Dave lived in
Absarokee, spent time at the cabin and traveled. He particularly
enjoyed visiting the WWII Memorial in Washington D.C. as he'd
diligently raised funds for its development over the course of many
years, and returning this fall to the Farragut Training Station.
After complications from aortic aneurysms and
other medical aliments sidelined him in 2006, he lived for a year
with his daughter and son-in-law in Billings, but through
determination and grit he returned to independent living this past
summer and was working on chores at the cabin up to the moment he
was helicoptered to the hospital with the aortic failure that led to
his passing.
Throughout his life his devotion to his family was
foremost. He opened his heart, his homes, and his wallet to an
ever-growing extended family. He is survived by his sister Eileen"
Joy" Hall (Mrs. Richard Hall) of Thermopolis; his children Charles
Fred of Stevensville, MT; Merry Lee Olson (Mrs. Ed Jones) of
Billings; David Mark of Stevensville; and Charlette Ann (Mrs. Ed
Nangle) of Newnan, Georgia; his grandchildren Fawn Olson Reed of
Santa Cruz, CA; Scott Stout and Anna Stout of Missoula; Kelly Guest
of Denver; Jeff Jones of San Francisco, Jennifer Jones of Missoula,
and Angelia Page of Stevensville, and his cousin Wilma Jane Sturgis
of Greenville, South Carolina. In addition he loved and was beloved
by his great-grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews, and others
whom he and Charlette "adopted" into the family.
Dave was a spiritual person but not in a classic
Christian sense. He believed in and followed the teachings of our
Native American ancestors who understood the necessity of honoring
nature, our land, and other precious resources.
Cremation has taken place through
Michelotti-Sawyers. Brief services will be held at the Stout Family
Memorial in Rosebud Cemetery south of Absarokee on Saturday,
November 3 at 11 :30 a.m. There, family and friends will be given
instructions to the celebration of Dave's life that will follow.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that
contributions be made to the Cobblestone Preservation Committee, 242
So. Woodward, Absarokee, MT 59001. Or, that you just take time to
think of him while you plant a tree, catch a fish, play with your
children, toast your friends, and hug those that you love. |
