Barbara Grace Dillon was born on April 13, 1937, in Wolf Point, Mont., to Sylvester and Clyta (Cusker) Dillon, who were homesteaders in Mc-Cone County northeast of Vida. She suffered a stroke in 2017 requiring care at Faith Lutheran Home in Wolf Point, where she died at age 85 on Dec. 2, 2022.
Barbara completed one year of college at Northern Montana College in Havre and three years at Montana State College, Bozeman, 195458, graduating with a bachelor of science degree in secondary education, double major in English and home economics. She was a recipient of a Harrison Award, one of 10 senior women selected for contributions to the overall life of the campus. Specifically, this would be for participation in religious activities, Presbyterian and inter-denominational, which at that time were being enriched by the newly established Foreign Club. As a member of Sigma Beta, Chi Omega, Barbara continued with alum groups and reunions, which became increasingly meaningful with each passing decade.
After teaching two years at Dundee Junior High School in Illinois, Barbara received an M.A. degree in Christian education from San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, Calif., 1960-1962. She worked in that capacity for one year at Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii.
At Billings West High 196366, Barbara taught English and coached the competitive speech team whose state record for 64, 65, 66 was second, third and fifth.
As a member of Billings Studio Theatre, Barbara played the lead in Marriage-Go-Round,
with a Billings Gazette review which stated, “one of the best performance in the history of Billings Studio Theatre.”
From 1966 to 1974, Barbara worked as a secretary in San Francisco, Calif., for Bechtel Corp and Scudder, Stevens & Clark. At Bechtel, she was promoted to secretarial coordinator for the refinery and chemical division during the first years of affirmative action and she trained several minority personnel. At Scudder, she was a private secretary for R.J. Dunn, a leading investment counselor, who was the chairman of the Democratic Party in San Francisco the year J.F. Kennedy was elected.
Barbara returned to teaching in rural Saskatchewan, Canada, living in a community of 500 for 12 years and teaching herself to play the piano. At age 44, she retired to write. In 1987, she returned to the U.S. to live in Kalispell until 1990 when she bought a home in Billings where she became involved in political issues on a local and state level and continued to write, read, garden and walk her dog.
In 2017, she suffered a stroke, resided and was cared for at Faith Home.
She will be inurned at Greenwood Cemetery this summer.
She is survived by her two sisters, Connie Grayson of Kalispell and Clyta Dillon (Barry) of Wolf Point and Phoenix, Ariz.; her nephews, Scott Grayson, Kalispell area and J.D. Sansaver, Los Angeles, Calif.; and niece, Mikel Sansaver (Kurokawa) of Wolf Point.
She was preceded in death by both her parents and several faithful canine companions.
(Paid Obituary)
