Ronald Elmer Billstein passed away peacefully in his sleep during the early morning hours of October 1,2026 at 79 years of age.

He was born in Billings, Montana on May 15, 1947, to Louis Billstein and Esther (Frey) Billstein. He grew up in a small duplex on Florine Lane that also doubled as Louis’ business, Billstein Body Shop. Esther was small in stature but tough as nails and worked many jobs to support Ron and his older brother Rick.

Florine Lane was located across the street from Central Park, the location at which Ron developed a love and talent for athletics as well as many lifelong friendships including Mike Berlant and the Sanchez family. The Billstein family was blessed with just enough to meet their needs, but Ron and his friends from the area pledged to never let a Christmas or birthday present make an appearance for 30 days in deference to their classmates and friends who may have been even less fortunate that year.

In 1965, Ron graduated from Billings Central High School. In addition to being an excellent student, he starred at basketball and football for Central. However, he most notably played for the Billings Royals under legendary coach Ed Bayne, which was then the only legion team in Billings.

Partly based upon the advice and guidance of a Little League baseball coach, Ron journeyed to Montana State University in Bozeman to play baseball for the Bobcats (MSU has since dropped the program) and to study engineering. While he was joined in Bozeman by many friends from Central, sports teams and the Billings community, he met new friends in Bozeman and, most importantly, in 1969, Mary Beth Cartee.

After graduating (continuing his tradition of completing levels of education with honors) from MSU and obtaining a master’s degree in civil engineering, he returned to Billings and began work with HKM Engineering which, at the time, included approximately five engineers. Also in 1970, the love of Ron’s life, Mary Beth, became Mary Beth Billstein and they remained married until his death.

Ron continued his love of athletics in many endeavors, but most notably the legendary Bucks Bar softball team. The Bucks Bar dominance on the field, including two appearances at the softball national finals, may only have been exceeded by the colorful personalities making up the team, with many tales of troublemaking, intra-team conflict and inter-team conflict that would have been difficult to believe for those who were not present but for the remarkable consistency of the stories and storytellers over the years.

Ron’s athletic achievements were recognized with his Billings Royals and Bucks Bar teams being inducted respectively into the Montana baseball and softball halls of fame. Happily, this occurred early enough in Ron’s life that he could take in and understand the moment.

In 1983, Ron, Mary Beth along with their two sons Josh and Andrew began attending Faith Evangelical Church (Faith E). Ron and Mary Beth faithfully attended Faith E for the next 43 years, with Ron serving the Church in various capacities including on the Church board. Unsurprisingly, Ron was present at Faith E the Sunday prior to his death.

Ron spent the bulk of his engineering career assisting clients with verifying the dates and quantities of historical water rights. Those clients often included tribes located in Montana and other western states with Ron motivated to establish the legal foundation for restoring adequate water supplies to Native American communities. Ron retired from HKM in 2016. While HKM had several iterations during his tenure, it at times consisted of dozens of engineers and Ron was fortunate to mentor several loyal and talented engineers during his long career. Ron was also honored to receive recognition and awards from national engineering organizations.

Ron put his athletic and engineering talents to great use serving the Billings community. In addition to throwing hundreds of baseballs to Josh and Andrew, he coached youth basketball and baseball teams. He also helped to run youth baseball leagues in Billings including the development of new baseball facilities in Billings for which he refused to accept any public acknowledgment.

In addition to being a great athlete, Ron was a legendary sports fanatic with his teams including the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Montana State Bobcats and Los Angeles Dodgers, probably in that order. With Rick enjoying a long and prestigious teaching career at the University of Montana, they maintained a healthy rivalry including during the streak. Thankfully, Ron was able to go out with the last laugh.

Ron was diagnosed with dementia in 2012 and fought a courageous 14 year battle, sustained in large part by three great joys: grandchildren Wolfric, Abigail and Hanley. Ron enjoyed a faithful Bible study and men’s group that met throughout his life and continued almost until the end. Ron was also blessed to have loyal friends and family who traveled great distances to remain in contact. While Ron lost his abilities of recall and word association, Mary Beth and the family were extremely fortunate that he maintained the same kind and generous spirit.

Mary Beth remained a constant and stalwart caregiver throughout this entire period. During the last two months of his life, Ron resided at TenderNest and the family is extremely grateful for their excellent care.

Ron was a devoted Christian and the family takes great joy and comfort from his restoration with the Heavenly Father. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Mary Beth, son Josh (Boo), son Andrew (Jennelle), grandchildren Wolfric, Abigail and Hanley, brother Rick (Jane) as well as his nieces Molly, Karly (Sam) and grandnephews Connor and Cole.

A service in memory of Ron and his life will take place at Faith E at 11:00 AM on Friday, November 6th, followed by a reception with lunch served.

Throughout his life, Ron had many wonderful animal friends. For that reason, the family asks that you consider a gift in his memory to the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter, Faith E or any organization that supports and furthers youth athletics.