Warren J. Murray
1933 - 2010
Warren J. Murray was born in Dillon, on Nov. 8, 1933, the third of four sons to Harold and Mary Murray.
He grew up in Dillon attending grade school and Beaverhead County High School, lettering in football, graduating in 1952. During high school he worked summers for Carl Hollensteiner Well Drilling.
Warren then enlisted in the Montana National Guard serving until 1956. While in the Montana National Guard he attended what was then Montana State University in Missoula. In 1956 he enlisted in the U.S. Army serving in California, Germany and Maryland.
After the military, Warren took a job with Polk Directory Co., living in Kansas and Alaska. Warren was very articulate. In his travels he spoke of unique acquaintances such as Jim Lear, president of Lear Jet Corporation.
Upon returning to the Dillon area, Warren was employed at the Gold Leaf Mine Stamp Mill in Bannack, Mineral Engineering in Glen, and Yellow Band Gold in Argenta.
Warren worked on numerous construction projects through the years including highways, bridges, commercial buildings and housing.
In later life, Warren was always willing to work part-time for Tom and Sharon Rice (Nolan and Mike), Calvin Huffaker, Bob Walker and Art Olivier to name a few.
At the Rice’s, among the A-Z chores, he swathed hay for 22 years, always commenting with a grin, about the pleasant smell of fresh cut hay. Sharon affectionately calls Warren her third son.
Warren enjoyed visiting with friends and family over his favorite cup of coffee “Sweet Blonde” (lots of cream and sugar) while stirring the waitresses also.
Warren enjoyed mother nature, young calves, and fishing for brook trout with brother Jim on Bloody Dick Creek, and his judge-in-law, Frank Davis, up the Blacktail.
Each fall he took baled straw to his cousin, Virginia Foster, to help prepare her flowerbeds for winter.
Warren passed away on Sept. 7 at Parkview Acres. He is now resting peacefully in a better place. He will be missed by all the lives he touched.
He was preceded in death by his father Harold, mother Mary and brother George.
Warren is survived by his brothers Jim (Val), Great Falls, and Charles (Maggie), Billings; Judge Frank Davis, Dillon; cousin, Virginia Foster, Dillon; and several nieces and nephews.
Graveside services with military honors were held Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 3 p.m., at Mountain View Cemetery, with Brundage Funeral Home officiating. A reception followed at the Bicentennial Apartments social room.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to local organizations or charity of the donor’s choice.
Thelma Grace Kurtz
1922 - 2010
Thelma Grace Banning Kurtz, 88, of Great Falls, died peacefully with her family around her on Saturday at a local nursing home in Great Falls from natural causes.
Viewing will be Wednesday and Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Croxford Funeral Home.
A memorial service for both Thelma and George Kurtz will be Friday at 1 p.m. at Brundage Funeral Home, followed by internment at Mountain View Cemetery.
Thelma was born Jan. 5, 1922, in Dillon, the youngest of two daughters, to Vilas and Bessie Banning. She was raised along with her sister, Lucille, and her cousins Wallace and Irma Banning, on a ranch just south of Dillon. She attended a one-room school house, and then went to Beaverhead High School where she graduated in 1940.
She married George Kurtz of Dillon in 1942, in Las Vegas, Nev. The couple moved to Glendale, Calif., where Thelma lived while George served overseas during WWII. Upon his return, they moved back to Dillon where their son was born, and then moved to Great Falls in 1952 after the birth of their daughter, and dwelled there for the remainder of their lives together.
Thelma was the representative for Charles of the Ritz Cosmetics at the Paris (later Bon Marche) store in Great Falls for over 28 years. Later in life, she loved spoiling her grandchildren and wintering in southern California with her husband at their daughter's home.
George was born June 5, 1917, in Dillon, the fifth of six boys, to Oliver and Bertha Kurtz. He graduated from Beaverhead County High School in 1935.
George went to Cal Poly School of Engineering in San Louis Obispo after he married his bride, Thelma. He worked for McDonald Douglas in Burbank when he went into the service. As a SSgt in the Army Air Corps, he was stationed in the India Theatre of the war and flew over one hundred missions as flight engineer over the Burma Hump. Among his decorations are two Distinguished Flying Crosses.
When he moved to Great Falls, he opened George's Appliance Service. He retired in 1976.
In November of 2005, after 63 years of marriage, George died from complications of pneumonia in Great Falls. He wished to wait for his bride for internment with her.
Shortly thereafter, Thelma moved to Highgate Senior Living where she lived until her death.
Thelma and George were very generous people, who opened their home to several young people along the way who needed a little help, and always got them on their feet.
Thelma found beauty where ever she looked, from rocks to clouds. She loved animals, oil painting, sewing, and gathering minerals and rocks. George lovingly carted truck load after truck load of rocks home for her rock garden.
George loved his Montana, and was always anxious to return after wintering in southern California. He loved fly fishing, and was poetry to watch cast.
Thelma and George are survived by their son, Ronald H. (Laurie) Kurtz, Vancouver, Wash.; daughter, Janice (Bill) Kurtz Ellison, Bradbury, Calif.; grandchildren, Daniel and David Kurtz, Vancouver and Seattle, Wash., Amy and Chad Ellison, Bradbury, Calif.; great-granddaughter, Claire Aurora Mae Kurtz, Vancouver, Wash.; brother to George, Jim Kurtz, Dillon; best friend, Bessie Barrozo, Great Falls, and God son Don Barrozo, Los Angeles, Calif.
Thelma was preceded in death by her husband, George; parents, Vilas and Bessie Banning; sister, Lucille Banning; and cousins, Wallace and Irma Banning.
She was the kindest of people who loved, and was loved, by many.
George was preceded in death by his parents, Oliver and Bertha Kurtz; and brothers, Oliver, Norman, Lester and Frank.
Love is eternal, they will live on in our hearts.
Condolences to the family can be left at www.croxfordfuneralhome.com.
Max Lewis Robison
1925 - 2010
Max Lewis Robison died at his home north of McAllister Monday evening, Sept. 6.
Max was born Oct. 1, 1925 in Bone, Idaho, to Heber A. and Jennie (Bybee) Robison.
He spent his childhood on his father’s ranch at Bone. When his father sold the ranch, Max remembered leaving as one of the hardest things that could happen to a boy because he lost his first pony and an easy ride to all the best fishing holes he had ever known.
He did not like the move into Idaho Falls, and only spent a few years there before asking his older brother Wayne to find him a job in Wyoming. So at the age of 15, he left home and began his apprenticeship for ranching by riding range for ranches in Jackson Hole.
In October 1943, he was inducted into the United States Navy. After basic training he was sent to Moscow, Idaho, for specialist training as a radioman. He served honorably in the Pacific on the U.S.S. Cumberland Sound, a PBY tender.
At the end of the War he remembered being within sight of the carrier U.S.S. Missouri, where the Japanese surrender took place.
He then served several months as a part of the U.S. occupation of Japan, before receiving an honorable discharge and returning to the Idaho, Wyoming and Montana mountains he loved.
After the war his brother Wayne bought land on North Meadow Creek, north of McAllister, and asked Max to join him.
He met Kate Armstrong at a dance, and they were married on March 28, 1948.
In 1950, he bought two sections of land from his brother and started his own ranch, the place that his and Kate’s six children think of as the old homestead.
Max was an athlete. During the war, while on the restricted environs of a warship, he regularly worked out by doing pushups beside his bunk, and pull ups using pipes, and jogging the small deck of his ship.
He rode the Montana rodeo circuit from the late 1940s and early 1950s, and in 1953 won the MRA all around cowboy.
He never lost his interest in the sport. He was among the founding members of the Ennis Rodeo Association, and served as a board member and then as the Ennis Rodeo Association president.
Until just two years before his passing Max made the trek to National Finals; and, while everybody else enjoyed the Las Vegas nights Max watched the Rodeo.
Until his mid 60s, Max broke his own horses, and trained them as cattle ponies.
Even in his 80s, he saddled his favorite, Prince, to ride around the cows during calving season and irrigate in summer. He often said, as the pains of age gained on him, that he had trained Prince to fall over on him to end it all. He always said it with a wry grin and a twinkle in his eye. and then he would say, “And every day I have to tell Prince, ‘Prince today is not the day.’”
Max is survived by his wife Kate of 62 years; his sons, Lee and his wife Kathy, Poolesville, Md., Frank and his wife Jan, Portland, Ore., Vern and his wife Chyral, of McAllister, and Max, Jr., of McAllister; a daughter, Molly and her husband Dale Aagard, of McAllister.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Jennie.
Funeral Services will be today, at 10 a.m., at the Assembly of God Church, with graveside services following at the McAllister Cemetery.
John Lansing
1924 - 2010
John Lansing was born to Frederick and Eugenia (Enoeno) in the Philippines, Sept. 27, 1924. Deceased in Dillon Sept. 5 of congestive heart failure.
John was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 58 years, Helen (Boyer) Lansing.
He is survived by his children, Virginia (Kon) Peters, Michael (Vickie) Lansing, John Michael Lansing, Charles Roderick Lansing, Helen Rose Lansing, Deborah Eleanor Chaney (Craig); his grandchildren, Michelle, Tariq, Aishais, Tiffanie, Stephanie, Melissa, Jeffery, Raymond, Zachary, Melanie, Jeremy, Natalie, Felicity and Anthony; and will also be missed by his multiple great-grandchildren.
John was honored to serve in the U.S. Army Air Force during the second World War, and was a member of the American Legion. He was very proud of his Filipino heritage from his mother and American heritage from his father.
John loved a good joke, fishing, traveling, and spending time with his large family and countless friends. He particularly enjoyed the holidays with his family. He also enjoyed sharing Filipino dishes with his friends and family.
John and Helen were generous spirits. They were known for sharing their home, food and support to friends and strangers alike.
A Rosary was held at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13, at St. Rose Catholic Church in Dillon, with a vigil at 7 p.m.
Mass was held at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14 at St. Rose Catholic Church.
The committal service will be held today at 2 p.m., at Mountain View Cemetery on Sweetwater Road.
John left the Philippines at the tender age of 12, when WWII reached the Philippines, so he was not able to finish school. John felt further education was invaluable, so in lieu of flowers, donations made to Stockman Bank, 590 North Montana, Dillon, MT., 59725, to the John Lansing Memorial Fund, will be donated to his alma mater, the Letran College in Manila, Philippines.
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