Nels Nygren
1937-2010
Funeral services for Nels Ernest Nygren, 72, of Dillon, who died Jan. 6 at St. James Hospital, Butte, were held Monday morning at Brundage Funeral Home with Pastor Joel Walde officiating. Burial and graveside services were at Mountain View Cemetery.
Nels was born Oct. 19, 1937 in Dillon. He was the only child of Rudolph Nels Nygren and Lillian Edith (Duck) Nygren. The family moved to Argenta in 1946 where Nels attended school until the end of his eighth grade year. He attended Beaverhead County High School until he graduated in 1956.
After high school he went to work in Bannack at a gold mill. In the late 1950s he went to work at Tri State Minerals in the Axes Canyon Talc Mine. In 1962, he was drafted into the U.S. Army for a short time. He then went to work for Stauffer Chemical at the Maiden Rock Mine mining phosphate. Then he worked for Pfizer for a while. Nels became self employed in the mid 70s mining his own properties and trapping, timbering and sawmilling. In 1996 he became partners with his son, operating Nygren Lumber up until the time of his death.
Nels was an extremely hard worker. He loved the outdoors and spent a lot of time, in his younger years, hunting, fishing and camping. He will be sadly missed by his children and grandchildren. He will be forever remembered as a loving and fun dad and grandpa.
He is survived by his five children, Nancy Holm of Missoula, Cathy (Bob) Leaver of Deer Lodge, Allen (Sheri) Nygren of Dillon, Tracey (Dave) Roberts of Dillon and Mike (Chandra) Block of Las Vegas; and 13 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Memorials are suggested to the Barrett Hospital or the American Legion. A guest book is available on line at www.brundagefuneralhome.com.
Barbara Egan
Former Dillon resident Barbara Egan, 73, died Dec. 23, after battling a rare carcinoid cancer.
She was born at the foot of Yonah Mountain in the Blueridge Mountains of northeastern Georgia to Maurice and Louise Hendrix. She attended elementary school in Gainesville, Ga., then moved with family to Ormond Beach, Fla.
She graduated from Seebreeze High School and Florida State University with a degree in foods and nutrition. She was a member and president of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
Barb did her dietetic internship at U.S. Public Health Hospital on Staten Island where she met her future husband, Dr. James Egan. They were married in October 1960 and moved to Arlington, Va., where three children were born, Mike, Richard and Erin.
The family moved to Ormond Beach, Fla., where Dr. Egan began practice. With the children all in school, Barb worked as a public health nutritionist for the Volusia County Health Department.
Outside of her health department work she was the driving force behind the start of the Meals on Wheels Program. She lobbied in Washington, Tallahassee and the county, and gave many public information programs and TV appearances to raise funds. The program started with 400 residents in Deland, New Smyrna and Daytona Beach, Fla. For this effort she was nominated for Volusia County (Fla.) Woman of the Year.
Barb moved with her three children to Cody, Wyo., in 1976. She worked as a dietary consultant to Worland, Thermopolis and Cody hospitals and nursing homes. She became nutrition director at West Park Hospital, moved to director of Support Services and the interim CEO.
She started Eagle Creek Outfitting concurrent with hospital work. Acquiring a hunting camp at North Crandall Creek, Wyo.,, she became the only licensed female big game outfitter in Wyoming. She loved the Wyoming mountains, camp cooking, guiding hunters and summer pack trips. She hunted in Montana and Wyoming. Being outdoors was her real love.
Leaving Cody 1986, she began work with the Hillhaven Corporation as a management consultant out of Denver. In 1989 she began working on her masters in health care administration in the ISP program at the University of Minnesota. She received her MHA with a 3.98 GPA. She moved to Dillon where she was CEO of Parkview Acres long term care and rehab facility.
She returned to Cody in 1995 to wed Jack Wilkinson. The marriage ended shortly thereafter.
Barb re-met a high school classmate, Wil Lowe, at a reunion. They had four wonderful years together before his untimely death in 2003.
In Barb’s later years she became a “quasi-artist”, as she called it, of gourds. Many of her gourds have sold at craft fairs and a gallery in Cody. She also continued research on Native American cradleboards and cradles with the hope of writing a book.
She was active at Christ Episcopal Church, serving on the vestry, mission and bargain box committees. She was project manager for the memorial garden and committee. She was appointed by the Bishop to the Foundation Board of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming.
Visiting her children and grandchildren was a high point of her life. “Grandma Bear”, because she lived with the bears in Wapiti, was beloved and will never be forgotten by her five grandchildren.
She is survived by sons Mike Egan (Kris), Annaka, Liam and Brenna of Park City, Utah; Rich Egan and Steve Yacovelli of Orlando, Fla.; daughter, Erin Vargas (Dan), Koby and Elijah of Steamboat Springs, Colo.; brothers Maurice Hendrix (Jan) of Cedar City, Fla., and Bob Hendrix (Pat) of Gainesville, Fla.; and several nieces and nephews.
Memorial services will be held in Colorado at Christ Episcopal Church Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. A light buffet will follow in the Parish Hall. Interment will be for the family in the Memorial Garden at a later date.
Condolences may be sent to Erin Vargas, P. Box 772621, Steamboat Springs, Colo. 80477.
James ‘Jay’ Bertino
1938-2010
James Joseph “Jay” Bertino died Jan. 9, 2010, in St Vincent Hospital in Billings after a long fight with heart disease. He was just shy of his 72nd birthday.
Services will be graveside at Mountain View Cemetery at 2 p.m. Wednesday Jan. 13, followed by a reception at Mac’s Last Cast.
Jay was born in Highland Park, Mich., on Feb. 16, 1938, the son of “Jimmy” and Catherine (Firth) Bertino. He came to Montana after high school and a year of college at Oklahoma State for a job with the forestry department. He graduated Montana State University, Missoula, with a bachelor’s in forestry management. This is where he met Janet Dooling, whom he married and started ranching with at Jackson.
He is survived by Janet; three children, Dell Kay (Jason McDonald) of Joliet, AJ (Renee) of Roseville, Calif., and Catherine (Keith Nordling) of San Diego, Calif.: two grandchildren, Brandyn and Tannor Bertino; and one great-grandchild, Zoey Marie. He was preceded in death by his sister, Dell Kay, and his parents.
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