Kyle Welty, 50, died Aug. 18, 2020, in Loveland, Colo. He was the youngest child born to Dr. Alan Welty, DDS and Joy Welty and grew up in Corunna, Mich., on the Welty farm. He showed his first chicken in the Shiawassee County Fair at age 10 when he plucked the resident rooster from the hen house, entered him and won Grand Champion Cock. He went on to show sheep, chicken and even baked goods at the fair as both a member of 4-H and FFA. He also followed his siblings into the water, competing in swimming and holding records at Corunna High School (Class of 1988). He graduated from University of Montana with a bachelor of science in education and minor in geology. There he followed another family tradition of playing rugby with both the University of Montana Jester and the Missoula Maggots. He earned a master’s degree in geology from the Montana State University in Bozeman. He taught high school science in Wolf Point, Harrison and Rifle, Colo., before pivoting to geologist working as a mud logger for natural gas exploration. He created his own consulting company, Hollowtop Geological Services, with the motto of “If it can’t be grown, it must be mined.” His loves were his dogs and his 1959 Edsel. He hunted, skied (until his knees gave out) and bicycled. He was an avid card player of Cribbage and Euchre. He enjoyed craft beers and had a standing Wednesday night Euchre game at his favorite brewhouse, Grimm Brothers, in Loveland, Colo. He is survived by his mother, Joy; brothers, Kurt and Kris; and sister, Beth Dreyfuss.

Thomas Edward Firemoon, 58, died April 5, 2021, in Billings. He was born on July 18, 1962, in Poplar to Lyle Firemoon and Leta Fourstar Firemoon, the youngest boy of all the siblings. Throughout his childhood, his family lived in many places, but eventually settled on the Fort Peck Reservation. During his school years, he enjoyed playing basketball and had many great stories to tell about when he played. He graduated from Lustre Christian High School in 1980 and always rooted for the Lustre Lions. He worked at the A& S Industries, amongst other places, before going into the military. In 1986, he entered the United States Navy and was stationed in San Diego, Calif., serving on the USS Constellation CV 64 (“The Connie”). While aboard the aircraft carrier, he ran the ship’s store, did some cooking and would run twice a day to train for the Olympics. He did not talk much about his service because he took the military oath to heart and now has taken it to his grave. He did tell of a fire on the aircraft carrier in August 1988 that he fought alongside his shipmates. He spent three years in active duty before being honorably discharged and moved to Navy Reserve. Being a Navy veteran was one of his proudest accomplishments. In 1992, he married Marva Chapman. With this union, Buddy and Sunee were put in his life and he raised them as his own. They went on to have Sirr, Justiss and Presley. Throughout the years, he moved the family to many different cities for his jobs. This included Billings; Missoula; San Diego, Calif.; and Williston, N.D. He and Marva later divorced. He graduated with a fouryear business administration degree from University of Montana and was in the master’s program at UofM for business administration at the time of his death. He was proud of his college experience and wished to eventually get his doctorate. He worked in management and higher-level jobs at many places throughout his life, such as Trader’s State Bank in Poplar, Flying J in Billings, a temp agency in San Diego, bookkeeping for school district offices in San Diego, Williston and Poplar, assistant manager at Walmart in Williston and Miles City, counselor at Spotted Bull and other programs of the Fort Peck Tribes. Some of his enjoyments included drinking tea and coffee; playing cards, especially Rummy, or board games. He loved reading, spending time with his family, tuning into online church services every chance he got and watching the Lakers games. He enjoyed coaching basketball as well. He coached teams from ages elementary to college during his life, with the Buffalo Chasers being the last team he coached. He is survived by his children, Buddy Smith, Sunee Erickson, Sirr Firemoon, Justiss Toavs and Presley Sears; four grandchildren; sisters, Velda Stewart, Ingrid Firemoon, Lyla Law and Joy Reddig. He was preceded in death by brothers, Jr, Vincent and Dawson; and sister, Melda. Funeral services were held Monday, April 12, at the Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel in Wolf Point. Interment followed at Greenwood Cemetery. Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel of Wolf Point was entrusted with the arrangements.

Nelson Gene Grandchamp, 69, of Wolf Point died April 9, 2021, at Billings Clinic. He was born Jan. 16, 1952, in Poplar to Joseph Grandchamp and Elizabeth Johnson. He received his education in Glasgow Public Schools. He enlisted in the Marines in 1972 and was honorably discharged in 1978. He then served in the National Guard in Glasgow with the rank of an E-5 for numerous years. He married Jeffery Young and to this union Chad, Josh and Aron were born. He later married Brandy Brunckhorst and to this union Elizabeth and Ian were born. He was a “Jack of all trades”: he went to plumbing school, he ranched, worked in the oil fields in Texas and Louisiana and was a cook at various establishments. In 1996, he moved to Wolf Point. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and driving the back roads with a bottle of Black Velvet and a gun in hand in case he found his ultimate buck. On his travels, he would stop to visit family and friends. He was preceded in death by his brother, Bobby Joe; sisters, Babe, Sandy, Judy and Helen; and grandson, Liam Dolan. He is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth Dunn; sons, Chad Dolan, Josh Dolan, Aron Dolan and Ian Grandchamp; 13 grandchildren; siblings, Cheryl Packineau, Carol Seinknecht, Tina Freese and Melvin “Benny” Grandchamp. A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, April 16, at the Wolf Point Community Hall.

Leonard Dale Wettlin Jr., 50, of Wolf Point died April 1, 2021. He was born to Leonard Dale Wettlin Sr. and Deborah Louise Brunelle Wettlin on Jan. 15, 1971, in Glasgow. He enjoyed family gatherings, fishing, camping and playing guitar, but mostly he enjoyed being around his family. He often went around checking on everyone. It made him happy to know everyone was okay even if he wasn’t. He brought laughter and conversation anytime he was around. He is survived by his sister Melissa Wettlin of Dunseith, N.D.; brothers, Joshua Wettlin of San Antonio, Texas, and Nathan Lindsey of Portland, Ore., and adopted sister, Joel-Rae Ferguson of Poplar. Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel of Wolf Point was entrusted with the arrangements.

Gregory Fred Hofman, 73, died Feb. 17, 2021, in Mesa, Ariz. He was born June 4, 1947, in Williston, N.D., to Fred and Dorothy Hofman of McCabe. He was baptized and confirmed in Ebenezer Lutheran Church. He attended McCabe Elementary School and attended high school in Culbertson. While in high school, he was active in FFA, played football and was on the 1965 District 2C Championship team for the Culbertson Cowboys. On April 18, 1970, he married Judy Lyseng of Froid. They celebrated their golden anniversary on April 18, 2020. He served in the Montana National Guard and retired after 21 years of service to his country. He served as the chief of police for the town of Culbertson and was the manager at Petrolane before working at Continental Grain east of Culbertson. He then worked for the State of Montana as a G.V.W. compliance officer at the Culbertson scale for more than 20 years before retiring. He was an EMT with the Culbertson ambulance service for 25 years. He was a member of the Culbertson fire department for 15 years and was involved with the Scouting program in Culbertson for over 25 years. He was an active member of the FFA alumni and drove a number of trips to the national FFA convention in Kansas City, Mo. He even served a term as the state president for the Montana FFA Alumni Association. He raised cattle and helped his children with their FFA projects at the family farm in McCabe. He also spent many years operating the game clock for Culbertson high school basketball games. He enjoyed bowling, hunting and camping with the family. He and Judy began splitting time at the farm in McCabe and Mesa, Ariz., in 2012. They made many new friends and he enjoyed playing shuffle board while escaping the cold winter weather back in Montana. He is survived by his wife, Judy; son, Fred Hofman of Norris; daughter, Terri Ann Merrill of Culbertson; sister, Cheryl Arthur of Culbertson; brothers, Dean Hofman of Worden, Ill., and Jerry Hofman of Bakersville, Calif.; four grandchildren; and one great-grandson. He was preceded in death by his son, Theodore Gregory Hofman. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 24, at Ebenezer Lutheran Church in McCabe with Pastor Greg Holler-Dinsmore officiating.