Obituaries

HARLEM Helen Anita Laws, 77, of Harlem and recently of Hot Springs, passed away May 25, 2007, at a Havre Care Facility of natural causes. A memorial service is being planed for a later date. Cremation has taken place. Helen was born Oct. 8, 1929, to Howard S. and Mabel (Murray) Webber in Plains. She grew up in the Plains and Hot Springs area and graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1948. In June 1951, she met and married Allen Eley. To this union three children were born. The couple later divorced. In 1975 she met...

BILLINGS Sharon Halseth Kostelecky, 51, died peacefully at her home in Billings on Thursday, May 24, 2007. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 16, at Faith Chapel in Billings. She requested that people attending her service wear colorful attire to celebrate her colorful and happy life. Sharon was born Sept. 19, 1955, in St. Paul, Minn., to James and Barbara (Lafrantz) Halseth. She was raised and educated in Chinook and Havre. She graduated from Chinook High School in 1973. She then attended Montana...

Virginia M. Vaughn, 85, of Havre died Friday evening, May 25, 2007, at Northern Montana Care Center of natural causes. Her funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at First Lutheran Church with Pastor Brad Ulgenes officiating. Burial will follow at Highland Cemetery. A fellowship will be held at the church immediately following the graveside service. Virginia was born July 28, 1921, in White Court, Alberta, Canada, to William and Julia (Pogreba) Ury. Her family homesteaded in the Box Elder area. Virginia attended Box...

Sharon Halseth Kostelecky, 41, died peacefully at her home in Billings on Thursday, May 24, 2007. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 16, at Faith Chapel in Billings. She requested that people attending her service wear colorful attire to celebrate her colorful and happy life. Sharon was born Sept. 19, 1995, in St. Paul, Minn., to James and Barbara (Lafrantz) Halseth. She was raised and educated in Chinook and Havre. She graduated from Chinook High School in 1973. She then attended Montana State...

George Nicholas Pitman, 69, of Oelrichs, S. D., died Thursday, May 24, 2007 in Yankton, S.D., after a long illness. A memorial service is planned for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the home of Merlin and Marcia Myers at 168 Arrowhead Drive in Lewistown. All friends and family are welcome. Inurnment will be in Central Montana Memorial Gardens of Lewistown. George was born Nov. 7, 1937, in Bozeman to Alvin and Ada Pitman. He grew up in the Grass Range area, where he attended Grass Range High School, played basketball, track, and graduat...

Virginia M. Vaughn, 85, of Havre died Friday evening, May 25, 2007, at Northern Montana Care Center of natural causes. Her funeral service will be held at 10 a. m. Friday at First Lutheran Church with Pastor Brad Ulgenes officiating. Burial will follow at Highland Cemetery. A fellowship will be held at the church immediately following the graveside service. Virginia was born July 28, 1921, in White Court, Alberta, Canada, to William and Julia (Pogreba) Ury. Her family homesteaded in the Box Elder area. Virginia attended Box...

CHINOOK Lawrence E. Hofeldt, 81, of Chinook died at Sweet Memorial Nursing Home on Saturday, May 26, 2007, due to natural causes. His memorial service will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. in Zion Lutheran Church with burial following with military honors in Kuper Memorial Cemetery. Lawrence was born in the Bear Paw Mountains to Henry and Alvinia (Struve) Hofeldt on March 29, 1926. While he spent most of his life in the Bear Paws, he attended schools at Lloyd and Chinook. He entered the U.S. Army in World War II and fought in Germ...

Robert “Pancho” Moreno, 55, died Friday morning, May 25, 2007, at Northern Montana Hospital of natural causes. His wake service began 2 p. m. Sunday at the Rocky Boy Catholic Church. His funeral service was held at 10 a.m. Monday at the Rocky Boy Catholic Church with Father Pete Guthneck officiating. Burial followed at the Rocky Boy Cemetery. Robert was born April 29, 1952, in Havre to Roy Moreno and Kathryn Mildred Denny. He was raised in Havre. He attended Box Elder and Havre Schools and Miles City High School, where he gra...

Joseph Lambert Keller, 94, died Thursday morning, May 24, 2007, at Northern Montana Care Center of natural causes. His prayer vigil and rosary service will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at St. Jude Catholic Church with his funeral Mass 10 a. m. Tuesday at the St. Jude Catholic Church with Father Robert D. Grosch officiating. Burial with full military honors will follow at Highland Cemetery. A fellowship luncheon will be held at St. Jude Parish Center immediately after the services at the graveside. Joseph was born Sept. 13, 1912,...

Sarah Josephine “Blue Sky Girl,” Doney, 80, great-granddaughter of the last Assinniboine chief, Chief Nosey, died at her residence at the family ranch on Beaver Creek east of Lodge Pole on Wednesday, May 23, 2007, due to natural causes. Her wake service will be today at 7 p.m. at the Medicine Bear Lodge with funeral services there Saturday at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at the Doney Family Cemetery at the family ranch. Sarah was born Nov. 30, 1926, to Oscar and Ester (Boy Chief) Gray. She is the last one of a family of eig...

Catherine Ann Bradbury, 80, of Havre died Monday, May 21, 2007, at Northern Montana Care Center. Viewing will be held from 9 a. m. to noon Tuesday at the Holland and Bonine Funeral Home. Her funeral service will be held at 2 p. m. Tuesday at Fifth Avenue Christian Church with burial next to her husband at the Highland Cemetery. A luncheon will be held at the church immediately after the services at the graveside. Catherine was born Dec. 16, 1926, in Havre to John and Rosa (Putra) Thompson. She was raised on the family ranch...

Janice Schmidt, 61, of Havre and formerly of Malta, died Monday, May 21, 2007, after a long battle of cancer, with her husband, Ed Schmidt, by her side. A graveside service will be held at the Malta Cemetery on Friday at 3 p.m. Cremation has taken place. A celebration of Jan's life will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in her home in Havre. Jan was born Sept. 25, 1945, in Glasgow to Ernie and Millie (Erickson) Gilbertson. She grew up and attended school in Malta and graduated from the Malta High School. Jan then married the true...

Mary M. Burchard Kelley, 71, died Sunday, May 6, 2007, at her home in Spokane. Viewing was held May 11 at 2 p. m. at Heritage Funeral Home followed by a procession to Spokane Memorial Gardens for the graveside service at 3 p.m. Mary was born Nov. 22, 1935, to Anna Mae and Charles Burchard in Havre. She was one of nine children. Growing up in Havre, surrounded by family and friends, Mary learned the strength of family and small town values, which she taught to her four children, Carleen, Kelly, Thomas and Lora. Mary was...

ROCKY BOY Alma Morsette Cohee, 73, a resident of Black Eagle, died Tuesday, May 22, 2007, at Benefis East Campus in Great Falls of natural causes. A wake service began Wednesday and will continue through today at the Rocky Boy Senior Citizens Center. Her funeral service will be held at 2 p. m. Friday at the Rocky Boy Senior Citizens Center. Burial will follow at the Rocky Boy Cemetery. A fellowship luncheon will be held at the senior center immediately after the graveside services. Alma was born Nov. 16, 1933, in Rocky Boy...

HINGHAM Alan Sterry, 62, of Hingham, beloved brother and son, died by his own hand on the family farm north of Hingham on Saturday, May 19, 2007. His funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the Hingham Lutheran Church. Burial will follow at the Hingham Cemetery. He was born Alan Leroy Sterry on Aug. 26, 1944, at Havre to Alton and Nedra (Hanson) Sterry. He grew up on the family farm and received his formal education at Hingham. Alan began his farming career with his father when he was 12 years old. This farm year...

Mark Fay Reid, 53, a letter carrier for the Havre post office, died Monday, May 21, 2007, at his home. His cause of death was due to a heart attack. His funeral service will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at Van Orsdel United Methodist Church with Pastor Richard Rice officiating. A fellowship dinner will be held at the V.F.W. Club immediately after the services. A full military burial will be held at Fort Harrison Veteran's Cemetery at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Helena. Mark was born Dec. 11, 1953, in Minot, N.D., to Lloyd and Dearling...

BOX ELDER/GREAT FALLS Lena F. (Parisian) Stamper, 83, of Glendale, Ariz., previously of Great Falls, a retired nurse's aide, died Saturday, May 19, 2007, at a Glendale, Ariz., hospital of natural causes. Funeral liturgy will be held at 10 a. m. Thursday at St. Joseph's Catholic Church with burial to follow in Highland Cemetery in Great Falls. A vigil service was scheduled for Tuesday night at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Box Elder and again at 7 p.m. today at O'Connor Memorial Chapel. Lena was born Sept. 27, 1923, to...

GREAT FALLS Patrick Quincy, 65, died Saturday, May 19, 2007, at a local hospital of natural causes. Services will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Great Falls at the Community Christian Fellowship at 1227 fifth Ave. North. There will also be a Rosary Thursday at 7 p.m at St. Paul's Mission Recreation Center In Hays. A Wake will follow the Rosary. Funeral service will be at St. Paul's Mission Recreation Center Friday at 11 a.m. with burial to follow at St. Paul Mission Cemetery in Hays. He was a grant writer and served in the...

SHELBY Annabelle Annita Seeley, 92, died Sunday, May 20, 2007, in Billings. A memorial service will be held at the Community Methodist Church at 2 p. m. on Sunday. Annabelle was born Dec. 20, 1914, on the Sathre homestead west of Havre. She attended country schools near Kremlin and graduated from Havre High School in 1932. Shortly thereafter she began to work for J.C. Penny's in Havre. Annabelle married Charles Wilbur Seeley on Sept. 19, 1938. Soon thereafter they moved to Shelby, where they started the Shelby Bottling Co....

HELENA Paula J. (Goeltz- Hanson) Harju, 71, died Friday, May 18, 2007, due to injuries sustained in a car accident. Memorial services will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Valley View Lutheran Church in Helena. A viewing will be held at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Havre from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday. Graveside services will be held on Friday at 10 a.m. at the Kuper Memorial Cemetery in Chinook. Funeral services will be conducted by Pastor Gary Bode of the Valley View Lutheran Church of Helena. Paula was born in Cudahy,...

LIVINGSTON Scott Conway Greear, 54, died Saturday, May 12, 2007. Cremation has taken place at Franzen-Davis Crematory. A memorial service for family and friends will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at St. Mary's Catholic Church, with Fr. Dale Yurkovic presiding. Scott was born Feb. 7, 1953, to James Edward and Dorothy Mae (Conway) Greear in Livingston. Growing up on the family farm nurtured his lifelong interest in agriculture and the outdoors. He was an active member of the FFA program throughout high school and enjoyed...

Local educator, Dr. Thelma Anderson, 84, passed away Tuesday, May 15, 2007, at the Northern Montana Hospital after a short illness. Her funeral service will be held 10 a.m. Friday, May 18, 2007, at the First Lutheran Church with Pastor M i c h a e l O ' H e a r n officiating. Burial will follow at the H i g h l a n d Cemetery. Memorial c o n t r i b u - tions in T h e l m a ' s honor may be made to the MSUNorthern Foundation, P.O. Box 1691 Havre, MT 59501. Services and arrangements have been entrusted to Holland and Bonine...

ROCKY BOY Louis Weaselboy, Sr. Pine Bird, 84, died Sunday, May 13, 2007, of natural causes at the Community Medical Center in Missoula, Montana, surrounded by family. Traditional services will be conducted at 10 a.m. today at the Lutheran Church in Rocky Boy with Kenneth Gopher officiating. Burial will follow at the Rocky Boy Cemetery. Louis was born Nov. 11, 1922 in Pryor, Mont., to Barney Weaselboy and Walking A n t e l o p e Fine Bow. He married Lucy Samatt March 27, 1948 and t o g e t h e r they raised their eight...

KALISPELL Joan Lincoln, 84, died Monday, May 14, 2007, at her winter residence in Zephyrhills, Fla. A viewing is planned from 9 a. m to 6 p.m.; the family will be there from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, at the Johnson Mortuary, 525 South Main St. Graveside services will be at 11 a. m., Wednesday, May 30 at Glacier Memorial Gardens, 2659 Highway 93 North, followed by a reception at noon at the Red Lion Hotel, 20 North Main St. in Kalispell. She was born Sept. 28, 1922, in Reading, England to William Henry and Florence Ann (Wil...

BARBARA ANN “SWISHER” BESEL obituary KALISPELL Barbara Ann “Swisher” Besel, 59, died Wednesday, May 16, 2007, at Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell. A celebration of life will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 26, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Big Fork with Rev. Tom Gopp officiating. Urn burial was at C. E. Conrad Cemetery. A reception will follow at 2 p.m. Barbara was born July 12, 1947, in Havre to Everett and Maymie (Julkowski) Swisher. She was raised in Havre, where she attended school. She married Gordon Besel o...