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Florence Davis
Florence Siothy (Osborn) Davis, 85, of Troy, died on Sept. 24, 2002, at the Libby Care Center.
She was born on Dec. 14. 1916, at Emmett, Idaho, to Frederick James Osborn and Eva Milner Osborn and moved with her family by covered wagon to the Owyhee Desert area south of Vale, Ore., where she spent her childhood.
She attended public schools through the eighth grade, working as a teenager on her grandmother’s ranch east of Vale, cooking for harvest crews and sheepherders.
In August 1937, she moved with her parents and two brothers to Troy.
The family organized non-alcoholic family dances, potluck dinners and summer picnics in an old schoolhouse on Lake Creek Road where Tri-Valley Grange was later built. It was at these musical events that she met guitar player Vernon Ray Davis. They were married on Nov. 2, 1939.
They moved to the Davis family homestead on Copper Mountain, south of Troy, where Florence lived for the next 63 years, until five weeks before her death.
Florence and Vernon loved the pioneer lifestyle and they raised six children on the homestead.
Florence loved to crochet and embroider and also made much of the family’s clothing. She made her own dresses, sewed by hand, until shortly before her death. She was a warm, loving person who was always willing to do without in order to help others.
Her greatest pleasure was being with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Floyd and Charlie Osborn, sister Nora Osborn, her husband Vernon in July 1976, grandson Kelly Gene Davis in 1975 and granddaughter Hope Siothy Davis in November 1976.
She is survived by her six children, son Charles Rodney Davis and his wife Betty, Troy; son Larry Gene Davis, Troy, and his wife Donna Davis, Kalama, Wash.; son Stanley George Davis, Troy; daughter Barbara Ann Davis Pence, Troy; daughter Peggy Ellen Davis, Winter Park, Fla.; daughter Carol Jean Davis Latham and her husband David, Libby; nine grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.
Cremation has taken place and a graveside service will be held Saturday, Oct. 12, at 4 p.m. at the Troy Cemetery.
A potluck reception will follow at Troy Senior Citizen Center.
Arrangements are by Nelson & Vial Funeral Home.
Daniel Dean
Daniel Walter Tague Dean, 29, died on Sept. 29, 2002, at his home in Bozeman. His wife Rochelle Dawn Tague Dean and his family were with him.
Diagnosed with melanoma 18 months ago, Dan met his disease with the determination, resilience and humor that he brought to all aspects of his life.
Born Jan. 18, 1973, at Honolulu, Hawaii, to Pierson Goddard Dean and Susan Ewers Leo, Dan grew up in California and Montana, but it was Montana that claimed his heart.
A co-valedictorian of Libby High School’s Class of 1991, Dan was also named to the All-State golf team that year.
After graduating, he started the first of six summers as a firefighter, becoming an engine and helitack foreman responsible for training and supervising engine, ground and helicopter crews. His last summer he worked on a national fire hotshot crew.
Dan packed his life with experiences, all of which he savored deeply.
After graduating from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., in 1995, his interest in ecology led him to build energy-efficient houses in New Mexico. He spent a month studying Spanish in Guatemala and trained as an ESL teacher in Seattle before moving to Bozeman where he taught English to Japanese MSU students.
This experience led him to move to Japan, where he and Rochelle taught English for a year, living for half that time at a Buddhist temple.
Never inclined to do things halfway, they also traveled to Korea and to Thailand, where, eschewing the more common tourist activities such as riding an elephant, they took a Thai cooking class.
Returning again to Montana and the mountains he loved, Dan became a technical writer at RightNow Technologies. He also combined his passion for writing and his deep commitment to sustainable living in founding Solar Flare Institute, to provide technical writing services to alternative energy organizations. His first document, a solar manual for an alternative energy institute in Colorado, will appear this fall.
Dan and Rochelle were married in a mountain meadow on June 29, 2002, at the Strong Ranch in Paradise Valley. They spent their honeymoon backpacking in the Tetons.
A man with a deep commitment to community and to sustainable living, Dan volunteered at both the Community Food Co-op and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. His hobbies included hiking, cycling, skiing, traveling, cooking, gardening, bluegrass and Celtic music, fiddling, golfing, reading, writing, alternative energy, hockey and Spanish.
Dan will be remembered always by his wife Rochelle; his parents Pierson and Glenda Dean, Libby, and Sue Leo and Larry Froberg, also of Libby; his brother and sister-in-law Thomas and Shannie Dean, Tucson, Ariz., his grandmother Margot Ewers, Santa Rosa, Calif., and by an extended family and many friends.
He was dearly loved and will be sorely missed. His passion for life touched all who knew him.
A celebration of Dan’s life was held at the Springhill Pavilion on Friday, Oct. 4, followed by a potluck.
Contributions in Dan’s name may be made to the Corporation for the Northern Rockies, a non-profit organization supporting sustainable living, Box 1448, 215 S. 3 St. Livingston MT 59047, or to the Dan Dean Benefit Fund, in care of First Security Bank of Bozeman.
Barbara O’Leary
Former Yaak and Libby resident Barbara Jane Boothroy O’Leary, 77, of Manhattan, died on Friday, Oct. 4, 2002.
She was born on Aug. 24, 1925, at Des Moines, Iowa, to Thomas and Ina Franker Boothroy.
Barb graduated from Mitchellville High School with honors in 1941, at age 16.
She married James Warren O’Leary at Rapid City, S.D., on June 9, 1944.
They lived in Mitchellville, at Aurora, Colo., in the Yaak and at Libby, in Houston, Texas, and most recently at Manhattan.
Barb had a long career as an executive legal secretary and contract administrator. Most recently she worked as a clerk for the City of Belgrade.
She enjoyed gardening, music, needlework, sewing, reading and spending time with family.
Barb especially loved her homestead life in the Yaak in the late 1950’s and the old-timers who embraced her family.
Survivors include her husband James, 1730 Cameron Bridge Road, Manhattan; daughters Nancy and her husband Brad Nowell; Kathy O’Leary, Barbara and her husband Michael Mathern, and Trish and her husband Mark Little; sons Dick and his wife Cindy O’Leary; Jim Jr. and his wife Misty O’Leary, and Mike and his wife Heidi O’Leary; brother Bill and his wife Ginny Boothroy, 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents and an infant son, Thomas Perry.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Dahl Funeral Chapel with a graveside to follow at Meadow View Cemetery in Manhattan.
Memorials may be made to Churchill Volunteer Fire Department or St. Vincent’s Hospital in Billings.
Romella Worral
Romella (Boots) Ann Worral, 79, died on Oct. 2, 2002, at her daughter’s home in Libby.
She will be remembered as a wonderful mother, wife and sister.
Boots was born in Cleburne, Texas, on Aug. 17, 1923, to G. Fred Farmer and Irva Owensby Farmer.
She married Roy William Worral on March 22, 1945.
Romella worked for the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. and Dallas, Texas.
She was active in community and church organizations in Texas and enjoyed camping, square dancing and traveling with her husband, playing board games and visiting with friends, relatives and grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband Roy; brothers Cubert and G. Fred (Bill) Jr., and sister Nedra Joe.
Survivors include son Dr. Robert Worral, Alexandria, Va.; daughter Barbara Guthneck, Libby; grandson Nick Guthneck, Boise, Idaho; granddaughter Darlene Guthneck, Libby; brothers Richard (Punk) Farmer, Everman, Texas; Darvin (Rat) Farmer, Bull Head City, Nev., and sister Carlita (Beadie) Haggard, Everman, Texas.
Anson Bengtson
Anson Paul Bengtson, 85, died Sept. 30, 2002, at St. John’s Lutheran Hospital.
He was born on Sept. 13, 1917, at Paynesville, Minn., to Thingly and Christine Pederson Bengtson.
He moved with his parents and older brother and sister to Malta on an immigrant train when he was six weeks old. The family homesteaded in Black Coulee north of Dodson, where Anson attended grade school before going to high school at Turner.
He worked at Boeing during World War II, then returned to Turner where he farmed and ranched until 1958.
After moving to Box Elder, he built and sold homes in Havre until moving to Libby in 1962.
Anson and his wife Faye built and managed the Elkhorn trailer park, apartments and Elkhorn Antiques until they retired and moved to Troy.
Faye died in January 2002.
Anson loved working with wood and he repaired and refinished many antiques, making lovely things for his family and friends. He loved auction sales and rummage sales, where he would look for bargains, whether he needed them or not.
All who knew Anson, especially his family that he cared for so well all his life, will miss him dearly.
He was preceded in death by his wives Gladys and Faye, his parents, brothers Ross, Troy, Clarence and Newell, sister Reva Long and his oldest daughter Carol Bengtson.
Survivors include sons Paul Bengtson and his wife Carol, Mesquite, Nev.; Milo Bengtson, Yaak; Gordon Bengtson and his wife Kathy, Thompson Falls, John Barnett and his wife Kathy, Kettle Falls, Wash.; daughters Gloria Beasley and her husband Robert, Troy; Sandra Dedrick and her husband Darwin, Libby; Priscilla Klies and her husband Gary, Elk River, Minn; Paulette Wall and her husband Dave, Newell, S.D., and Rhenda Studer and husband Mick, Spearfish, S.D.; nine grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Graveside services will be conducted on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 2 p.m. at Milnor Lake Cemetery near Troy.
Local arrangements are by Nelson & Vial Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the Troy Volunteer Ambulance.
