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Fred ‘Nip’ Nelson
Fred D. (Nip) Nelson, 79, longtime area logger, died Thursday, April 25, 2002, at St. John’s Lutheran Hospital.
He was born on March 23, 1923, at Rexford, to Benjamin and Clara Nelson.
Raised and educated in the Tobacco Valley, Fred served with the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II, participating in the Normandy invasion. He was honorably discharged in 1946 and returned to Montana.
He married Geraldine Pearson on Jan. 28, 1946, at Libby.
He was employed for a time as a logger for the J. Neils Lumber Company and in 1954 he and other family members formed a logging contracting business which Fred operated for many years until retiring in 1993.
An avid outdoorsman, Fred had a lifetime love of fishing and hunting.
He was a member of the Montana Logging Association and a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Fred was preceded in death by a grandchild, two great-grandchildren, four sisters and three brothers.
He is survived by his wife Geraldine, Libby; sons Larry Nelson and his friend Karen, Bruce Nelson and his friend Joetta, and Dean Nelson, all of Libby; sisters Daisy Smith and Faith Lasher and her husband Don, all of Kalispell; 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Services with military honors were conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Tobacco Valley Cemetery in Eureka.
Visitation was from 3-8 p.m. Monday at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home in Libby and from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home in Eureka.
Durward Fosgate
Durward K. Fosgate, 82, of Libby, died on March 20, 2003, at the Libby Care Center.
He was born on Jan. 23, 1921, at Saranac Lake, N.Y., to Cecil Fosgate and Lila Harrington Fosgate.
Raised and educated in northern Wisconsin, Durward served in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War.
Following his honorable discharge he attended the Baron County Normal College in Baron, Wis., earning teaching credentials.
Durward taught school in northern Wisconsin.
For many years he and his wife Esther lived in Cloquet, Minn., where Durward was a mill worker in the building products industry.
They remained in Cloquet until moving to Libby in 1991.
Durward is survived by his wife Esther, Libby; children Larry Fosgate and his wife Gloria, Las Vegas, Nev., Lorna Jean Banks and her husband Bill, Cook, Minn., and Lonnie Fosgate and his wife Joan, Libby; brother Kenneth Fosgate, Minong, Wis., and sister Betty Spillner, Sun City, Fla., 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Raymond Bache officiating.
Interment with military honors will follow at the City of Libby Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 1-5 p.m. on Tuesday and until noon Wednesday at the funeral home.
John Foust
John B. Foust, 66, died on Sunday, March 23, 2003, at his home in Libby.
He was born on Oct. 19, 1936, at Thompson Falls, to Fred and Georgia Cantwell Foust.
John grew up in Oregon where he attended school, earning a bachelor’s degree at Southern Oregon University.
He was listed in the book “Outstanding Young Men of America” in 1967.
While in Oregon, John worked as an insurance underwriter and a social worker for the welfare department.
He also worked as a salesman for the Sweetheart Cup Company in Spokane before moving to Libby.
He worked as a supervisor in quality control for Champion International at Libby until retiring in 1989.
John enjoyed his horses and cooking and was an avid history buff.
Survivors include his wife Candie of Libby; mother Georgia Foust, Tucson, Ariz.; children Julie Kanealli, her husband Koko and their children Russell and Alicia, Kilauea, Hawaii; Jennifer Kia and her husband Walter and their children Zachary and Tyler, Las Vegas, Nev.; Jay Faust and his daughter Jennilee, Bend, Ore.; Billie Little and her husband Scott and their children Morgon and Nathaniel who were very special and Papa’s pride and joy, of Bigfork; brothers Jim Foust and his wife Karen, Trinidad, Colo., and Bill Foust, Gold Hill, Ore.
Services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Friday at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home Chapel.
Leland Murdock
Leland E. (Lee) Murdock, 86, of Plains, died on Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains.
He was born on Nov. 29, 1916 at Camp 2, Tin Cup Road, in Darby, to Ira and Mary Johnson Murdock.
The family moved to the Yaak River area near Libby, where they homesteaded and where Lee attended school before graduating from Libby High School
Lee married Emma Starling on Oct. 3, 1936, at Thompson Falls and they lived in a lumber camp on the Thompson River.
They moved to Helena where Lee worked in the mines before moving to Plains in 1938.
Lee worked as a lumber grader at the Diehl Lumber Mill in Plains for many years before retiring.
He was president of the mill workers union and served as business agent.
Lee enjoyed hunting, fishing and dancing.
Survivors include his daughter and son-in-law, Sandy and Ron Domino, Libby; son Leland (Butch) Murdock, Plains, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife Emma in 1996, his parents, sister Mabel Role and two grandchildren.
Visitation was on Sunday at the Goffelt-Bunch Funeral Chapel.
Services were conducted on Monday at the United Methodist Church of Plains with the Rev. Karen McRae officiating.
Burial followed at the Plains Cemetery.
Georgiana Edwards
Georgiana J. Edwards, 72, of Libby, died on Tuesday, March 18, 2003, at St. John’s Lutheran Hospital.
She was born on Dec. 4, 1930, on the family homestead near Crystal Lake south of Libby, to John George and Gladys Hall Erhard.
Raised and educated in the Libby area, Georgiana lived for a brief time in Portland, Ore., before returning to Libby where she graduated from Libby High School with the Class of 1948.
She later attended Montana State University at Missoula.
Georgiana married Robert Melvin Edwards on Dec. 29, 1948 at Libby.
They raised their family in Libby where Georgiana worked for H&R Block and where she and her husband had owned and operated Libby Floral since 1981.
She was a longtime member and secretary-treasurer of the Church of the Nazarene and was devoted to her Lord.
Georgiana enjoyed gardening and sewing and was an avid reader. She particularly enjoyed being a mother and in recent years grandmother to her 15 grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by an infant son in 1963, brothers George, Karl and Albert Erhard and sister Mary Ellen Jones.
Survivors include her husband Melvin, Libby; sons Randy Edwards, Libby; Rob Edwards, Calgary, Alberta, and Gary Edwards, Leavenworth, Wash., daughters Jennifer Tenney, White Swan, Wash., and Shannon Edwards-Myslicki, Libby; sister Betty Cooper, Libby, brothers John Erhard, Libby, Herman Erhard, Libby, William Erhard, San Diego, Calif., and James Erhard, Libby, 15 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Friday at the Church of the Nazarene with the Rev. Gerald Bell officiating.
Interment services will follow at the City of Libby Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 3-8 p.m. on Thursday and until noon on Friday at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home.
