Lana Lee (Sargent, Lambert) Mikkelsen, (Jingle Dress Woman), 47, of Brockton died Jan. 16, 2021, in Billings. She was born to Annette “Ann” Lambert and Wyman Sargent on Aug. 6, 1973, in Poplar. She was also mainly raised by her grandparents Bernard “Barney” Lambert Sr. and Sybil (Bighorn) Lambert. As she got older, she attended both Poplar and Brockton schools, graduating from Brockton High School in 1991. After a brief stay at Rocky Mountain College, she graduated with multiple associates degrees from Fort Peck Community College. In her short life, she held multiple positions, both formal and voluntary. She mainly loved working with and for people and being a youth advocate. Among these many jobs include the numerous years at Fort Peck Housing Authority in different positions and, most recently, as the recruitment officer at Fort Peck Community College. In 1998, she married Lars-Inge Mikkelsen and, one year later, welcomed their first child, Joseph John Lewis, on Nov. 1, 1999. Shortly after, Lars started wishing for a baby girl and his prayers were answered when they were blessed with their twin girls, Jacie Payton Jo and Kristina Irene Marie, on Dec. 8, 2001. She could not wait to be a grandmother and she got her wish when her son welcomed his daughter Oct. 23. Her family and friends will always remember her as a strong-willed, compassionate, respectful, hardworking person who always did everything she could to help those in need. She was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Avery Mikkelsen. She is survived by her husband, Lars Mikkelsen; children, Joseph Mikkelsen, Jacie and Kristina Mikkelsen. Funeral services were held Monday, Jan. 25, at Red Eagle Church in Fort Kipp. Interment was at Fort Kipp Cemetery. Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel assisted with the arrangements.

Anna Steppler was the winner of the 2021 Culbertson School District Spelling Bee Wednesday, Jan. 20. (Submitted photo)

Marie Lou Bidegaray, 80, of south Brockton died Jan. 7, 2021, at Billings Clinic. She was born Marie Louise on Sept. 18, 1940, to Louis and Catherine Poutcou in Mendive, France, in the Basque region of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. She married Jean Pierre Bidegaray on April 1, 1964, and started her new life as a farmwife, mother and partner with her husband and later with her sons. They started farming and ranching in the Yellowstone Valley in Sidney and then moved to the Charlie Creek area south of Brockton farming and ranching along the Missouri River. For the next 54 years, she raised six children, many a bum calf and harvested and shared the bounties of her orchards, gardens and her chickens. She was preceded in death by her husband of 48 years, Jean Pierre in 2012; and siblings, in France, Jeanne, Jean, Jean Charles, Jean Louis. She is survived by her children, Josy McLean of Great Falls, Jeanine Granada of south Brockton, Patrick Bidegaray of Culbertson, Gabriele Powell of Mount Pleasant, S.C., Claude Bidegaray of south Brockton and Remi Bidegaray of south Brockton; brothers, Jean Pierre, Joseph and Jean Baptiste, all of France; and youngest sister, Gracie of France. Following her wishes, she has been cremated. A funeral mass will be held later this summer at St. Bernard’s in Charlie Creek. Clayton Stevenson Memorial in Wolf Point is handling funeral arrangements.

Verna Deloris Johnson, 100, of Glasgow died at her home Jan. 3, 2021. She was born to Ada (Simard) and Austin Iwen on Sept. 3, 1920, in Bainville. She was the eldest of nine children, with four brothers and four sisters. She attended school in Bainville through her junior year of high school and then transferred to Froid for her senior year. She met her husband, Gilman Johnson, when he was working on her parents’ farm near Froid. The couple married May 3, 1939, and together they raised four children: Korene Anderson of Glasgow, Dale of Helena, Dallas of Bozeman and Dean of Glendive. Gil and Verna lived in Froid until 1943 when they moved to Glasgow where he worked for the Great Northern Railroad as a brakeman. He was drafted into the Navy in 1944. Verna and the children moved to Wolf Point for the duration of the war to live near her parents and to give birth to Dean. After the war, the family moved back to Glasgow in 1945. She was an exceptionally loving and devoted wife and mother, spending most of her adult life as a homemaker. In her unassuming way, she was an excellent role model and a guiding force in her family. She always planted a large garden and was an expert baker, a skill she learned from her mother, “Ma” Iwen, who was famous for her pies at Iwen’s Hi-Way Market in Wolf Point. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, she was active in the PTA and was a member of the Glasgow Scottie Band Boosters, a group of the band mothers whose primary purpose was to raise money for the band trips and to buy uniforms. After her youngest son entered high school, she worked at the Glasgow Sears store in customer service and later in the accounts department. She was also an active member of the Glasgow Soroptimists Club. She is survived by her four children; sister, Delcie Ray of Tehachipi, Calif.; brother, Bud Iwen of Helena; 13 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gilman Johnson; two sisters, Ladonna Sell and Eleanor Spitzer; and brothers, Ben, Darrell, Jiggs and Donny Iwen. She loved her home and her independence and refused to even consider moving to assisted living or to a nursing home. She was able to accomplish her wishes only with the devoted assistance of her caretakers: Cindy LaRoche, Mavis Orvis and recently Cecelia Montoya. Burial was in Highland Cemetery in Glasgow limited to immediate family only due to COVID.