Tracy Allan Brien died at his home on Sept. 2, 2022. He was born Aug. 9, 1963, in Cando, N.D., to Gary Brien Sr. and Betty Lizotte. He 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 where he met his longtime friend Michael Wolf. Even after they got out of the service, they enjoyed fishing, hunting and other activities together. His son Jesse was born July 7, 1983. After a few years, he met his wife Jaimie in the summer of 1990. They married in 1996 and divorced in 2000. Their first child Amber Marie was born June 14, 1993, and Trevor James Allan was born July 27, 1995. They had much 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. After separating from Kandie, he met Lana Domier and spent the last years of his life with her. He moved to the Sidney area from Halliday, N.D., in 1999 and moved back and forth between 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 of the bunch. He would then take them home and make sculptures out of them. He had a real passion for meat cutting and 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. He is survived by his children, Jesse, Amber Fountain Brien, Trevor Brien and Tessa Madsen; ex-wife, Jaimie Allmendinger; two life partners, Kandie Madsen and Lana Domier; siblings, Ronnette McCabe, Pam Strandlund, Sheila Devor, Gary Brien Jr, Shawn Brien and Brenda Christensen; and father, Gary Brien Sr. A celebration of life will be held Nov. 12 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the VFW Post 4099 in Sidney.

Keenan Patrick Beauchman, 25, of Billings died Oct. 23, 2022, in Billings. He was born in Glasgow on Aug. 11, 1997, the youngest boy of Kevin Beauchman and Tiffany Chopper. He was the happiest little boy and always had the biggest smile. He was always getting complimented on his big brown eyes. He was a real character and was the biggest jokester amongst his family. He had a strong love for family. His hobbies included hunting, doing scratch tickets and being around family. He liked to play Fortnite. His favorite team was the Denver Broncos. He loved to cruise his many different vehicles and bump his systems to oldies but goldies. He was proud of his Native culture. He sundanced, attended sweats and often attended powwows. He lived with his paternal grandfather, Patrick Beauchman, and his maternal grandmother, Mary Redstone, while growing up. He loved his elders and adopted many as grandparents, including Gary and Artis Robinson with whom he lived with at the time, and Winifred and Darwin Shaffer, with whom he attended powwows with. At age 19, he moved to Billings and lived with his sister, Katie Beauchman. He recently graduated from the WATCH Program and received his certificate which he is very proud of. He was employed at Billings Concrete and his work there made him proud. He is survived by his mother, Tiffany Chopper; brothers, Kristopher, Keegan and Kelly Beauchman; sisters, Kayla and Katie Beauchman, and Kylie Chopper; and grandmothers, Mary, Josephine, Alice Redstone, Karen Yellow Robe, Carol Demarrias, Aletha Chopper, Priscilla Carpenter, Dyan Greywater, Jackie Moran, Dina Vega, Florence McGeshick, Chrisandra Martell, Susan Von Eife, Winter Redstone, Le-Anne Redstone, Lucy Mc-Geshick, Tony Martell, Mina Lingle, and Janna Keeler. Funeral services were held Saturday, Nov. 5, at the New Wolf Point Community Hall. Interment followed at Greenwood Cemetery. Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel of Wolf Point was entrusted with the arrangements.

Ernest “Ernie” Lee Flynn, 73, died Oct. 30, 2022, at his home in Billings. He was born May 8, 1949, to Donna M. Reddoor and Lionel E. Flynn in Poplar. He was raised by his grandparents, Josephine and Edwin Reddoor, and attended grade and high school in Poplar. At 19 years old, he was inducted into the Army on Oct. 8, 1968, and traveled by train to Fort Lewis, Wash., to start basic training. After months of training, he got orders for Vietnam and served there from March 1969 to May 1970. This was a defining time that set off a lifetime of sacrifice that would include total blindness and partial deafness that struck a few years after he was discharged. After returning home from Vietnam, he had several different jobs. He was an avid hunter and loved fishing and the outdoors. He was also a skilled carpenter. He worked as a patrolman for the Poplar Police Department in 1971. He also worked at A& S Industries in Poplar as an inspector, spending days test-firing weapons. This is where he met his future wife while she was working as a secretary. He married Yvonne Rose Brown on Feb. 19, 1971. They had two children, Ernest Jr. and Stacee Ann. He started working for the Veterans Administration at Fort Harrison in Helena in 1978, helping fellow veterans as a veterans benefits counselor for 18 years until retiring in 1995. Retirement led to a move to Billings to be closer to his son and daughter-in-law. His dedication to fellow veterans led him to volunteer with the Disabled American Veterans transportation program. He helped take phone calls and arranged rides to medical appointments for veterans. He was recognized at the 2014 DAV national convention as DAV Volunteer of the Year. He logged over 25,000 hours volunteering until COVID shut down the office. He was full of wit and charm and made everyone he met feel important from the nurse doing a blood draw to lifelong friends. He was a voracious reader, enjoying stories of adventure and keeping up to date with all current events reading various newspapers. He was also a known Scrabble shark winning nearly every game he played. He was a member of Mensa, an organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile on IQ tests. He was preceded in death by three siblings. He is survived by his wife, Yvonne of Billings; son, Ernie Jr. of Missoula; daughter, Stacee of Billings; one grandchild; sister, Debbie Farris of Polson; brothers, Randy Farris of Indiana, Hank Flynn, Roger Flynn, Tom Flynn and Perry Flynn, all of Oswego. There will be a full military graveside burial, United States Army, at Yellowstone National Cemetery in Laurel in summer 2023.