Obituaries

POLSON — Wayne William Cooper, age 64, passed away on Jan. 27, 2023, at his residence. He was born on Jan. 15, 1959, to Alice (Combs) and Donald Cooper in Missoula. He was the sixth of eight children. His father moved the family to Lewistown in 1968 to open a lumber mill, where Wayne and his siblings helped after school. This is where his lumber mill career began.  Wayne worked at Plum Creek in Pablo for over 20 years until it closed and then Cavalar Lumber in Spokane for about seven years before coming back home to Polson. He was very proud of his planer work.  Wayne loved to fish, as he would say, “born to fish, forced to work.” He was also an avid basket...

RONAN — Geraldine “Jerry” Cordier Powell, age 84, passed away on Jan. 29, 2023, at her residence. Services are pending. Arrangements are under the care of The Lake Funeral Home and Crematory.

MOIESE — Merne Maire Hardy passed away on Jan. 7, 2023, just 37 days shy of her 100th birthday. This beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and nurse, spent her life working her vocation of nursing and taking care of people. After all, she had nine children. Merne was born in Billings on Feb. 13, 1923, ...

RONAN — Geraldine Anne Crusch, age 94, passed away on Jan. 24, 2023, at Mountain View Care Center in. She was born on July 31, 1928, to Barney and Florence (Ingalls) Egosque on the hottest day of the summer behind a sagebrush on the 12-mile stretch of highway between Nashua and Glasgow, Montana. She wa...

WINFIELD, KANSAS — Robert E. “Bob” Gordon, 71, of Winfield, Kansas, passed away, Saturday evening, Jan. 20, 2023, at Harry Hynes Hospice in Wichita. Born Nov. 6, 1951, in Ogden, Utah, he was the son of Russell Vern and Wanda Mabel (Hamblin) Gordon. He grew up on farms in Idaho and Montan...

BUTTE — Born in Polson on Feb. 9, 1949, to Clinton and Mabel Reum of St. Ignatius. Norm passed away in Butte and went to be with our Lord on Jan. 18, 2023.   Norm graduated high school in St. Ignatius in 1967 and attended University of Montana where he studied business. Norm took that knowledge...

BIG ARM — Arlene Beverly Tompkins, age 92, passed away Jan. 4, 2023. She was born on Dec. 10, 1930, in Miles City. Her family moved to Glendive shortly after and then moved to Columbia Falls when she was six. When she was 14, they moved to Polson where she graduated from Polson High School in 1948.&nbs...

POLSON — Violet Viola (Pinkerman) Lewis, age 92, passed away quietly on Dec. 27, 2022. She was born to Violet Hazel (Gauss) Pinkerman and Karl Clifton Pinkerman on Feb. 21, 1930, in Anaconda. The family, along with her brother, Duane, moved to the East Shore of Flathead Lake in 1941.   Vi gradu...

POLSON — Marshall Loren Bjork passed peacefully in his home in Polson on Jan. 8, 2023, at the age of 85. Marshall was born to Earl and Clara Bjork in Great Falls and spent his early years in Malta and Lincoln before the family settled in Stevensville, where he graduated from High School in 1955. He ...

POLSON — Marshall Loren Bjork passed peacefully in his home in Polson on Jan. 8, 2023, at the age of 85. Marshall was born to Earl and Clara Bjork in Great Falls and spent his early years in Malta and Lincoln before the family settled in Stevensville, where he graduated from High School in 1955. He ...