Obituaries

Oct 25, 2017

Loretta B. Grosz, 87, of Billings, passed away Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017, at Billings Clinic.

Loretta was born on March 1, 1930, in McLaughlin, South Dakota, to Sam and Clara (Weller) Buchwitz. She married Walter O. Grosz in 1947, and the couple moved from their North Dakota farm in 1952 to Anaconda, where they opened a Dairy...

Oct 25, 2017

Larry Ralph Schanz, of Ryegate, passed away on Oct. 22, 2017, at Billings Clinic, after a battle with cancer.

Larry was born to Ralph and Mildred (Helmerichs) Schanz on April 3, 1950. He grew up on the family farm south of Ryegate in the Big Coulee. He attended the '79 School House through seventh grade, then continued...

Oct 23, 2017

Dale L. Wright, 82, passed away Oct. 16, 2017, in Billings.

Dale was born Aug. 24, 1935, in Thermopolis, Wyoming, to Lloyd and Mara Wright. Dale married his sweetheart, Carolyn Douglass, on Nov. 19, 1955; they raised three sons: Paul, Jack and Brad.

Dale worked in the oilfield between Casper and Douglas from 1952 to...

Oct 23, 2017

Marvin Allen Balzer passed away peacefully on Oct. 20, 2017, at the age of 86. He was the firstborn to John and Amelia (Reiter) Balzer on Nov. 21, 1930, on Road 12 North, Worden, where he lived and farmed all of his life, until his recent illness.

Marvin attended Huntley Project Schools, excelling in FFA during high...

Oct 22, 2017

Benjamin Charles Flynn, 83, of Billings, passed away on Oct. 18, 2017, following a brief illness. Ben was born on Jan. 2, 1934, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to John and Lucille (Murphy) Flynn. He was one of 13 children.

Following primary education, Ben enlisted in the Navy, where he would serve for over 20 years. Primarily, his duties...

Oct 21, 2017

Signora "Sig" Sieverson passed away peacefully on Oct. 2, 2017, at age 95, in the loving presence of her family at Westpark Village in Billings. She previously lived in Spokane, WA, and Billings before moving to Westpark Village in 2015. Per Sig's wishes, cremation has taken place.

Signora was born May 15, 1922, near Toronto, South Dakota,...

Oct 18, 2017

Velta R. Morton, 76, of Billings, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, at the Billings Clinic. She lost a valiant fight against cancer.

Velta was born on Aug. 9, 1941, in Huntley, to Henry and Mae Reimers. She worked at the Billings C'mon Inn for several years as a desk clerk. Velta enjoyed volunteering at the Habitat...

Oct 16, 2017

Thomas Edward Thelen passed freely away into the arms of our Lord on Oct. 13, 2017. He left our world surrounded by his family and loved ones after a lifetime of courage battling numerous afflictions. Tom was born on Aug. 31, 1955, in Billings, to James and Jo Thelen, the second child of 11.

Tom attended Billings...

Oct 14, 2017

Verna M (Barr) Ruff was born to John and Minerva Barr, Sept. 12, 1938, in Columbus. She graduated from Absarokee High in 1956.

Dick and Verna were married Oct. 24, 1958, in the Congregational Church in Absarokee, and the journey began. We were blessed with twins on May 20, 1961: Randy from Bonner and Nancy from Billings....

Oct 10, 2017

Gary Haworth was born in Billings on Feb. 17, 1948. He graduated from West High and served in the Vietnam War. Later, he worked for Boise Cascade. He was married to Marcella Dutchak and they had one daughter, Carrie.

He loved spending time with family and friends, and also spending time with his dad and grandkids. He...

Oct 9, 2017

Our beloved mother, wife and grandmother drew her last breath, surrounded by family, on Oct. 7, 2017, at 92 years young. Renee Worchesek Stone was born in Fargo, ND, to Leo A. and Gorena E. Worchesek on Feb. 7,1925. Officially named after her mother, the new little baby was lovingly called "Bunny," which suited her well throughout her life....

Oct 9, 2017

Cliff Weller passed away Oct. 8, 2017. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on Dec. 26, 1925, to Clifford R. Weller, Sr. and Eleanor Jaquith Weller. His mother passed away before he was 2 years old and Clifford Sr. remarried Hazel Burke.

Cliff attended Luther College in Nebraska and Denver University in Colorado.

In 1951,...

Oct 9, 2017

Eric was born on June 9, 1933, in Billings, to Jacob and Irna Winkler. He was a letter carrier for the USPS for 36 years.

His survivors are his spouse, Carmen; a sister, Rose Effertz; two daughters, Erika (Mike) Campbell, Reneé (Nick) Campbell; three grandchildren, Leah (David) Fredrickson, Alex and Andrea. He was preceded in death by...

Oct 7, 2017

[gn_spacer size=”20″] [gn_heading style=”1″]Robert Criswell[/gn_heading]

Robert Walter Criswell, 76 of Hysham, MT passed away at Horizon Hospice Home in Billings on April 6, 2009. Bob was born in Hysham on March 31, 1933 to Leslie and Myrtle Criswell. He attended school in Hysham, graduating in 1951.

Following high school, Bob joined the United States Navy....

Sep 28, 2017

Madilyn "Sody" Bell Jones passed away on Sept. 25, 2017. More than our wife, mother, grandmother, sister and aunt, Sody was our best friend, brightest smile, most infectious laugh, and constant source of energy. She was the gregarious, irreverent matriarch of our family. There was never a dull moment when Sody was present and we loved her fits of...

Sep 26, 2017

Mabel Maxine Dolan passed away on Sept. 24, 2017, after a brief stay at RiverStone Hospice House.

She was born on July 8, 1923, to Cliff and Emma Devaney. Her place of birth is listed as Roosevelt County. She grew up in Wolf Point with her sisters Mary and Henny (Henrietta). Mom took bookkeeping in high school...

Sep 26, 2017

Louis Moran passed away peacefully on Sept. 20, 2017, in Billings. Louie was born on Dec. 4, 1918, in Geddes, South Dakota, to William Christopher and Marie (Philipps) Moran. He was the oldest of six children. His family relocated to Conrad in 1928 as the Great Depression began. He worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late...

Sep 25, 2017

Peg was born in Lewistown on Dec. 7, 1942, to Robert "Joe" and Vesta Wichman.

Peg went to Wild Rose School, Moore High School and on to Beauty School in Billings. She also worked at First National Bank, Northwest Fabrics/Hancock Fabrics. Early in Peg's adult life, she enjoyed going to Pat's Club, where she meet John Straight...

Sep 23, 2017

John Ray Black was born on September 15, 1928 in Los Angeles, California, and passed away surrounded by his beloved family at Mission Ridge Senior Living Community in Billings, Montana, on September 17, 2017, having just marked his 89th birthday.

The third child of Allen and Florence (Beard) Black, John spent his childhood in Glendale, California, where...

Sep 21, 2017

Surrounded by family and resting comfortably, Kathryn Sweeney passed away in the early morning hours of Sept. 21, 2017.

Kathryn Mary (Morgan) Sweeney was born in Rigby, Idaho, on Jan. 10, 1949. Her family moved to Montana in 1956 when her parents purchased a local apiary business that became Morgan Honey Farm. Kathryn graduated from Hot Springs...