Dean Dueth Nelson, 91, of Williston, N.D., formerly of Bainville, Mont., passed away at the Sheridan Memorial Hospital in Plentywood, Mont., on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 11, 2023. Funeral services will be held on Friday, Jan. 20, at 10 a.m. Mountain Time at the Bainville Fire Hall with Pastor Jon Pust and Pastor Ryan Lundquist officiating. Interment will follow at Bainville Cemetery. Friends may call at Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home in Williston on Thursday, Jan. 19, from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Central time and for the hour preceding the service at the fire hall in Bainville on Friday. Dean was born Dec. 12, 1931, in Bainville, Mont., to Oscar and Mabel (Torgerson) Nelson. He was raised on the family farm east of Bainville and graduated from Bainville High School in 1949. After graduation, Dean moved to Houston, Texas, and worked in construction with his brother Dennis. After he left Houston, Dean moved to Denver, Colo., and started a television sales and repair business with his brother-in-law. While in Denver, he met Jean Schweitzer while she was waiting tables at her family’s diner and they married three months later on Jan. 24, 1959. In 1963, Dean returned to the family farm in Bainville, where he and Jean raised their five children. Dean’s passion was farming and, even after he retired and moved to Billings, he returned to the farm to help his son Dennis every spring for planting and fall for harvest for many years. In 1998, Dean and Jean settled in Williston, N.D.,, where they lived until Jean passed away in May of 2019. When they weren’t busy farming, Dean and Jean spent many years calling square dancing and teaching round dancing. Dean was also an excellent carpenter and remodeled every house he and Jean ever lived in. He loved gardening and took particular pride in his extensive flower garden in Williston. Dean was also known as a competitive card player and spent many hours in retirement beating his kids and grandkids at pinochle, whist and cribbage. Dean and Jean cherished their family. They were involved in all of their grandkids’ activities, and traveled many miles watching their sports games, concerts and plays. Dean was known as calm and steady with a great sense of humor and a contagious laugh. Dean is survived by his five children: daughters. Janelle (Wayne) Lundquist, Lanette (Rick) Hansen, Deanne (Matt) Ober and Melanie (Mick) Portra, and son, Dennis (Tami); nine grandchildren; and 21 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by Jean, his wife of 60 years; his parents; sisters, Aloha and Ramona; and brothers, Oscar Gordon, Delton, Myron and Dennis. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to Sheridan Health Care Foundation (SHCF), 440 West Laurel Ave., Plentywood, MT 59254. Friends are welcome to visit www.eversoncoughlin. com to share memories of Dean or leave condolences for his family. (Paid Obituary)

Thomas G. Bracken, 78, died Dec. 8, 2022, at River Ridge Assisted Living in Billings. He was born Nov. 26, 1944, in Poplar to Ray and Anna (Manning) Bracken. They lived in a two-room house in Homestead until he was 10 years old, where he attended grade school. He then went to high school in Medicine Lake, where he graduated in 1962. After graduation, he attended various colleges in Montana until joining the National Guard. On Nov. 30, 1974, he married Connie Engelke. On May 9, 1975, they welcomed their only son, Justin. They farmed and ranched on his family farm west of Froid. In the early 2000s, they built a house overlooking Smoke Creek near the Engelke farm. He enjoyed raising cattle and helping Justin with farming and whatever else he needed help with. Connie also kept him very busy with all her projects and her sheep. He was preceded in death by his wife, Connie Bracken. He is survived by his son, Justin Bracken of Froid; sister, Linda Frantz of Ennis; and two grandsons. A memorial service will be held Saturday, Jan. 14, at 11 a.m. at the Froid Community Center.

Linda Rose (DeTienne) Larson, 70, died Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022m at St. Luke’s Hospital in Crosby, N,D. She was born June 9, 1952, at Mercy Hospital in Williston, N.D., to Young and Berniece (Hammond) DeTienne. She grew up and attended school in Bainville, graduating in 1970. After high school, she attended Billings Business College for accounting in Billings. She married Harry Gilbert Larson on June 23, 1974. The couple first settled in Dickinson, N.D., then later moved Williston, N.D., where they raised their family. The couple had two children together, Arthur and Berniece, then later welcomed Kris Price into the family as their own. She was a social butterfly. She enjoyed bowling leagues, being a BMX mom, camping and fishing, along with reading, cross-stitching, sewing and playing cards. She was a caregiver and knew no strangers. She would open her door to all and make them feel welcomed. She worked in many different jobs in retail throughout her life, retiring from WalMart in 2012, after making many lifelong friends. She is survived by her children, Kris Lippert of Williston, N.D., Art Larson of Crosby, N.D., and Berniece Stuefen of Elkton, S.D.; brother, Lloyd DeTienne of Billings; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband; two step-mothers, Florence and Bessie; and brother, Loren. Services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on March 4 at a location in Bainville yet to be determined.

Donald Edward (Curley) Marchwick, 96, passed away peacefully in Butte, Mont., at the Southwest Montana Veterans Home on Dec. 7, 2022. Fortunate to have lived his first 90 years with very few health ailments, recent years were filled with age-related conditions and, a year ago, he moved into the veterans’ home in Butte, where he received excellent continual care. The son of Peter Marchwick and Marie Tlustosch, Curley was born Oct. 13, 1926, in Culbertson, Mont., and grew up in Sidney and Culbertson. Independent from an early age, he left high school to join the U.S. Navy in July 1943, serving in the Asiatic Pacific until World War II ended. In November 1946, he completed his service and returned to Culbertson, where he worked as a truck driver for Great Northern Railroad. There, he met Grace Neikirk of Bainville. They married in Culbertson on Nov. 6, 1948. Curley and Grace embarked upon a vagabond life, moving across Montana and back again, building an active family of five children over 10 years, with each one born in a different city. When the fourth child reached school age in 1962, the family settled in Wolf Point where they spent the next 16 years. Although Curley spent some time in sales (life insurance, mobile homes) and construction, he always returned to long distance truck driving, hauling loads of grain and cattle over the open road. In Wolf Point, he was owner/ operator of the trucking firm Crown Distributors for many years while his kids completed their pre-college education in the Wolf Point school system.

Clifford T. Gangstad, 100, of Billings died Nov. 6, 2022. He was born Aug 31, 1922, on the family homestead near Froid. He was predeceased by his daughter, Lila Gangstad (Peterson); and his wife, Amelia Gangstad (Dorsey). He is survived by his children, Perry Gangstad, Susan Gangstad and Terry Gangstad; six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Funeral services were held at Atonement Lutheran Church in Billings on Nov. 12. Internment was at Sunset Memorial Garden Cemetery in Billings.

James “Jim D” Wilbur Dillon, 67, of Brockton died Nov. 8, 2022. He was born in Boulder, Colo., Jan. 22, 1955, to Charles and Jean Dillon. He spent his childhood in Victor. He then moved to Concrete, Wash., in high school and graduated there. After high school, he attended Eastern Washington University and earned a bachelor’s degree in education. Later in life, he continued his education at University of Montana in Missoula and received his master’s degree. In 1978, he met and married Marty. In 1980, they had their first child, a son, Chaz. Soon after, they moved to Brockton and had two more children, daughters Kari and Caitlin. He began teaching at Brockton School’s in 1980 and spent the rest of his teaching career there until he retired in 2006. He took on various roles in his career such as assistant administrator, junior high science, high school art and supervisor for student council. He was very interactive with his students and was always known for hanging out in the hallway at lunch taking the time to get to know each of his students. He loved rewarding his students for their accomplishments, which is why he invented the infamous gold slip auctions. He also had a deep love for high school sports. He could be seen doing everything from announcing the starting lineup, taking stats and even sweeping the floors. He loved chaperoning the high school basketball tournaments. Later in life, he enjoyed visiting with friends, attending auctions and hanging out with and spoiling his grandsons. He had many close relationships with families of the community. He was a pillar of the community and respected by many for the work he did with the students of the Brockton community. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marty; sister, Colleen; and adopted son, Sean Bighorn. He is survived by his son, Chaz; daughters Kari and Caitlin; five grandsons; sister, Shannon; and adopted sons, Joseph Chase Sr. and Adrien Spotted Bird Jr. Funeral services were held Saturday, Nov. 12, at Brockton High School. Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel was entrusted with arrangements.

Madalynn Grace Raab, 25, of Bozeman died on Thursday evening, Oct. 27, 2022. She was born July 22, 1997, to Jeanette Hellman and Brad Raab in Dickinson, N.D. She was always a friendly little girl with an amazing smile, a wonderful contagious laugh and a great sense of humor. She was the first to make friends with everyone and could converse with anyone. She had the ability at a young age to make these connections, which continued throughout her whole life. She loved most her family, being the baby sister, and all the siblings’ love they shared. She loved snuggling with her momma and received with joy the gushing of the love and attention. She loved all the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies and Avalanche games with her dad and family. She attended Brockton Immersion at age four, where she started to learn the Dakota language. She was very intelligent. She always read at least five grades ahead of her grade level. She attended Brockton and Culbertson elementary schools, graduated from Culbertson High School in 2015 at age 17. She competed in sports though her school years, excelling in volleyball, getting her massive ace server skills from her dad. She then attended college at Montana State University in Bozeman. Throughout her work career, she deeply loved her work and work families, especially her boss Jason and family. She was a strong, passionate and independent woman. She was a lifeguard for several summers at the Culbertson pool. At barely 100 pounds, Madalynn decided she was going to become a wildland firefighter. She completed the PAC test consisting of three miles, 45 pounds, for 45 minutes to earn her certification. She fought fire for the DNRC out of Lewistown. She loved and lived life to the fullest in the great state of Montana, enjoying nature activities — hiking, snowboarding, downhill skiing, swimming, working out and bowling. She was also a very talented artist and played the piano and clarinet. She is survived by her mother, Jeanette; father, Brad; brothers, Jeraco and Evan of Missoula; sister, Sarah of Williston, N.D.; and grandparents, Magdalena Hellman, Harlan Raab and Verlene (Dave) Goodrich. Funeral services were held Friday, Nov. 4, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Williston, N.D.

Tracy Allan Brien was born on Aug. 9, 1963, in Cando, N.D., and was welcomed into the loving family of Gary Brien Sr. and Betty Lizotte. Tracy enjoyed many things during his childhood — none more than being outside enjoying the outdoors with his family whether it was hunting fishing or just enjoying the views of the great outdoors. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the National Guard and served his country for 12 years. He was stationed in Culbertson, Mont., where he met his longtime friend Michael Wolf. Even after they got out of the service, they were together whether they were fishing or hunting they remained friends until the end. He welcomed his first son Jesse, July 7, 1983. After a few years, he met his wife Jaimie in the summer of 1990. They got married in 1996 and divorced in 2000. They welcomed their first child Amber Marie June 14, 1993, and their second child Trevor James Allan July 27, 1995. They had lots of fun together being outdoors, where Amber and Trevor learned all the ins and outs of fishing and hunting. Shortly after moving back to Montana, he met Kandie Madsen and her daughter, Tessa. Tessa was a welcomed addition to the family. He separated from Kandie and then met Lana Domier whom he spent the last years of his life with. Tracy moved to the Sidney area from Halliday, N.D., in 1999 and moved back and forth from Culbertson and Sidney. His passion was being outdoors, but he was an avid collector of agates. He would walk the river bottoms for hours looking for the best out of the bunch. He would then take them home and make sculptures out of them. He also enjoyed fishing and hunting with his nephew Alex and son Trevor. He had a real passion for meat cutting and he worked at IGA and Reynolds for the last 12 years. He also was a great taxidermist and would do anything from deer to fish. He loved to cook and just have a great time with family and friends. You could often see him on the weekends in his garage with his music blaring and cooking away on the grill. Tracy passed away in his home on Sept. 2, 2022, surrounded by his children and siblings and father. Tracy is survived by his children, Jesse, Amber (Kayla) Fountain Brien, Trevor (Caitlyn) Brien and Tessa Madsen; his ex-wife, Jaimie Allmendinger; two life partners, Kandie Madsen and Lana Domier; and his siblings, Ronnette (Brad) Mc-Cabe, Pam Strandlund, Sheila (Bruce) Devor, Gary Brien Jr, Shawn Brien and Brenda (JC) Christensen. He is also survived by his father, Gary Brien Sr.; and his uncle, Ronnie (Barb) Booth. He was preceded in death by his mother, Betty Lizotte; and his uncle, Stanley Booth. Friends and family are invited to come and celebrate the life of Tracy Allan Brien on Nov. 12 at the VFW Post 4099 in Sidney, Mont., from 1 to 5 p.m. We will have food, music and fun times. Come and tell us stories and adventures that you had with Pa. Thank you and can’t wait to see everyone. - Tracy’s children, Amber and Trevor. (Paid Obituary)