ECIL DYKSTRA obituary

GLASGOW - Cecil Dykstra, 74, died May 17, 2003, at a Glasgow hospital of natural causes.

A funeral service was May 19 at the First United Methodist Church in Glasgow, with the Rev. David Hodsdon officiating. Burial was in the Highland Cemetery in Glasgow.

Cecil was born in Glasgow to Cecil Dowa and Reba Crouch Dykstra on Oct. 1, 1928. He attended 12 years of school at the old Glasgow High School. He served in the 101st Airborne Army Paratroop Battalion and played trombone in the U.S. Army band stationed in Fort Bennings, Ga.

Cecil married Marilyn Hughes in 1977 and they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in 2002.

Cecil retired in 1988 after working for the Great Northern and Burlington Northern Railroads for 39 years as a brakeman and conductor. He was an avid hunter, fisherman, gunsmith and was on a sky diving team stationed at the Glasgow Air Force Base. Cecil a lifetime member of the N.R.A., and was a member of the Havre Masonic Lodge No. 55 and the United Methodist Church in Glasgow.

Cecil was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Thelma and Helen; and great-grandsons, John Aaron Bos and Carl Gregory Dykstra.

Survivors include his wife, Marilyn Dykstra of Glasgow; sons, Wayne Dykstra of Billings and Greg Dykstra of Phoenix, Ariz.; daughters, Debbie Walston of Peeples Valley, Ariz. and Connie St. John of Billings; sister, Vivian Knezevich of Portland, Ore.; five grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; four stepchildren; eight stepgrandchildren; eight stepgreat-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Arrangements are by the Bell Mortuary in Glasgow.