JOSEPH WRIGHT obituary

CHINOOK - Joseph Wayne Wright, 92, died Saturday, Aug. 16, 2003, of complications of pneumonia and congestive heart failure at a Havre hospital.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Burial will be in the Kuper Memorial Cemetery and a reception will follow at the Senior Citizens Center. Viewing will be Friday evening at the Edwards Funeral Home Chapel from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

J. Wayne Wright was born on Aug. 16, 1911, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Scott and Julia (Luby) Wright. The family

moved to

Montana in

1925. Wayne

attended and graduated from high school in Conrad. Later, the family moved to Willard, Utah. Wayne decided in the spring of 1934, with only $15 in his pocket, to hop a boxcar and move to Chinook with hopes of a job at the sugar beet factory.

Wayne married Leona Phipps in June of 1935. They had a daughter, Carma, and a son, Gary. They divorced. In 1952, he married Gretta Crouch. They had twins, Don and Donna. In June 1958, he married Kathryn France, and they remained together for 41 years until her passing in 1999.

Wayne worked numerous jobs in his lifetime from trucking, oil rigs, farming, and ranching.

He enjoyed riding, fishing and farming. He loved having a nice yard and vegetable garden. At 80, he had to quit the active farm work and also much of his riding. He still maintained his yard, roses, garden, and could still fish. In October of 2000, a stroke made all of his favorite activities no longer possible and he moved into Northern Montana Care Center.

Many will remember Wayne for his vast knowledge of farmers and ranchers in this area and his quick wit and story telling.

Wayne is survived by a sister, Virginia Singleton, in Union City, Calif.; brothers: Marvin (Merle) Wright in Brighton City, Utah, and Laurence (Arlene) Wright of Perry, Utah; daughters: Carma Chiodo of Waterford, Wis., and Donna (Craig) Weaver of Willard, Utah; sons: Gary Wright of Chinook and Don Wright of Ogden, Utah; stepsons: Alvin (Kay) Fox of Peoria, Ariz., Harve (Dee) Fox of Kalispell, Wayne (Ruth) Wrigth of Kalispell; stepdaughter, Norma (Ben) Morris of Broadview; sisters-in-law, Eunice Wright of Ogden, Utah, and Ester Montgomery of Kalispell; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the Northern Montana Care Center at Havre.

Arrangements are by Edwards Funeral Home of Chinook.