DOROTHY DEA obituary

Dorothy W. Dea, 86, died Wednesday, June 23, 2004, at a Big Sandy nursing home of natural causes.

Cremation will take place and her memorial service will be 1 p.m. Monday at the Holland and Bonine Funeral Chapel, with the Rev. John Chapman

officiating. Burial will follow at the Highland Cemetery. A luncheon will be held at the Eagles Club immediately after the service at the graveside.

Dorothy was born on July 13, 1917, in Raynesford to Earl G. and Lena E. (Tintinger) Watson. She was raised in the Cascade area and attended schools and graduated from high school there. She then attended North Western Business College and obtained her associate degree in bookkeeping.

She married Joseph Alan Dea on Dec. 30, 1938, in Great Falls. Dorothy worked for Mountain Bell Telephone Company as a telephone operator in Cascade from 1935 to 1942. The family then moved to Great Falls and she worked under the civil service at Malmstrom Air Force Base as the supervisor of the airplane parts department. She was promoted to Gore Field as the inspector of the warehouses from 1942 to 1945.

Alan and Dorothy moved to Harlem, Sand Coulee and Big Sandy for the next few years, while Alan worked for Montana Power. They then returned to Cascade, where they entered into a partnership in the Chevrolet garage from 1952 to 1955. Dorothy then went to work for Knutzon Lumber Company in Choteau as its part-time bookkeeper from 1955 to 1957. The family then moved to Chester, where Alan continued working for Montana Power Company. Dorothy and Alan were working members of the Montana Power Company family from 1946 to 1952 and again from 1956 to 1997. The couple moved to Havre and Dorothy worked for the Havre livestock yards as a part-time clerk along with working at the Eagles Club as a part-time bar maid. Dorothy moved to Big Sandy in 2003, where she was a resident of the Big Sandy Nursing Home.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Joseph Dea; and one sister.

Survivors include her daughter, Vicki Toth of Havre; special niece, JoAnn Eisenzimer of Cascade; grandchildren, Joseph (Lisa) Toth of Havre and Brandi (Eric) Lee of Missoula; three great-grandchildren; Great Grandchildren Angelina Toth of Havre; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorials in Dorothy's honor may be made to the Big Sandy Medical Center, 166 Montana Ave. E., Big Sandy, MT 59520, or to a memorial of one's choice.

Services and arrangements are under the direction of Holland and Bonine Funeral Home.