Hilmer Roland Trost
, 94, a retired Brady farmer, died of lung
disease Thursday at Peace Hospice in Great Falls.
The funeral service is 2 p.m. Monday at the Brady United
Methodist Church. Burial will follow in Hillside Cemetery in
Conrad. Services are under the direction of Pondera Funeral
Home.
He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Mildred Hill Trost;
children Rena and Delos Putz of San Geronimo, Calif., Del
and Joan Trost of Great Falls, Gloria Goodrich of Great
Falls, Douglas and Kate Trost of Lakeside, Mont., and
Melanie Trost and Bill Wilmot of Anaconda, Mont.;
grandchildren Darcy and Jeff Bennett of Lakewood, Colo.,
Brent and Peg Goodrich of Chandler, Ariz., Gayla and Ric
Mauseth of Great Falls, Marcy and Tim Klinger of Erie,
Colo., Dan and Cassie Trost of Billings, Mont., Kaylee Trost
of Dillon, Mont., Tyler Trost of Bozeman, Mont., Tobias
Trost and Michael Peters of Los Angeles, and Mercedes and
Joe Resteghini of Jeffersonville, Vt.; seven
great-grandchildren; sisters Hilda Roh and Lydia Lindsay of
Great Falls; sister-in-law Dorothy Trost of Orlando, Fla.,
and numerous beloved nieces and nephews.
Hilmer was a retired farmer and lifelong cowboy in Brady,
Mont., where he lived since he was 4 years old. He was born
on May 12, 1913, in Butler, Okla., and moved with his family
to Montana in 1917. They initially settled and farmed along
the Muddy Creek in Agawam, where Hilmer graduated from
eighth grade at the Collins School. They moved to farmland
closer to Brady in 1933, cleaning up the granary and
bunkhouse for temporary living quarters.
On June 11, 1939, Hilmer married a local girl, Mildred Hill,
and they moved onto the Trost family farm. His parents moved
to town several years later, so Hilmer and his growing brood
moved to their own farm near Fairfield, and then spent time
on a ranch near Vaughn and on the Teton Valley Ranch, with
some stays in between at the Trost home on Curtis Street in
Brady. He designed the Brady house and built it in 1953, and
lived there contentedly until just last month.
Hilmer was a talented carpenter and had a keen eye for
symmetry and aesthetic quality. His cabinets, shelves and
toolboxes are prized by family and friends. Although a
farmer by trade, he also loved riding horses and raising
cattle and was rarely seen without his cowboy hat, boots,
and silver buckle belt. In 1969, he decided to try his hand
at custom cutting, and packed up his wife and two children
for a trip to his birth state of Oklahoma. They worked the
fields all the way up to Montana from sunup to sundown, and
Mildred always kept the crew well-fueled with home-cooked
meals. He continued to cut wheat and barley for the next 19
summers. He retired to putter in his shop and enjoy his
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Hilmer's life was long and sometimes colorful. He survived a
ricochet bullet to the cheek, the Great Flood of 1964 and at
least one or two vehicular mishaps. He was a master
storyteller, enjoyed visiting with family and friends,
relished chocolate, loved animals and raised a family that
loves and misses him. May he ride on in peace.
The family would like to thank Peace Hospice, and especially
Lyn Anderson RN, for the loving and generous care they
provided for Dad. Thanks also to all of the friends and
neighbors who have helped out during this difficult time.
Anyone wishing to honor his life with a donation may
consider Peace Hospice in Great Falls or a charity of the
donor's choice.
|
Mildred Irene (Hill) Trost,
90, of Brady, retired office manager for Pondera County Extension Service,
died of natural causes Sunday at The Goldstone in Great
Falls.
Her funeral is 11 a.m. Friday at Brady United Methodist
Church, with burial at Hillside Cemetery in Conrad. After
the burial, a lunch will be held at the Brady Community
Hall. Pondera Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Survivors include a sister, Lelah Kauk of Conrad; children,
Rena and Delos Putz of San Geronimo, Calif., Del and Joan
Trost of Great Falls, Gloria Goodrich of Great Falls,
Douglas and Kate Trost of Lakeside and Melanie Trost and
Bill Wilmot of Anaconda; grandchildren, Darcy and Jeff
Bennett of Lakewood, Colo., Brent and Peg Goodrich of
Chandler, Ariz., Gayla and Ric Mauseth of Great Falls, Marcy
and Tim Klinger of Erie, Colo., Dan and Cassie Trost of
Helena, Kaylee Trost of Bozeman, Tyler Trost of Casper,
Wyo., Tobias Trost and Michael Peters of Los Angeles,
Calif., and Mercedes and Joe Resteghini of Colchester, Vt.;
great-grandchildren Trent, Mackenna and Trey Goodrich; Caden
and Trey Klinger; Scott, Courtney and Sara Mauseth; Lucas
Trost; Indie Resteghini and Roxanne Rose, newly born Dec.
13; sisters-in-law, Hilda Roh and Lydia Lindsay of Great
Falls and Dorothy Trost of Ohio; and numerous beloved nieces
and nephews.
Mildred was born to James and Blanche Hill in Valier on Dec.
27, 1919. She was raised in the Brady area, her parents
arriving in homesteading families in 1909 and 1910. She was
the second child in what would become a large family, with
one brother and four sisters. The family lived in several
residences around town, finally settling into the old Hanson
house, which is still in the family today. Her childhood
years were spent having lunch with her beloved Grandma
Marriott, playing piano duets with her big sister Lelah, and
helping watch after the younger children. She enjoyed acting
in the high school plays, loved writing, and played hard on
the Brady girls' basketball team. She traveled to Spokane
after high school to attend a two-year program at Kinman
Business University, where she earned her secretarial degree
in 1938. She worked in Spokane for a short while for an
insurance company.
On June 11, 1939, she returned to Brady to marry Hilmer
Trost, and they started a family of their own. They started
out farming with Hilmer's parents, then farmed and ranched
in several locations on their own, Mildred's favorite stay
being the two years at the Teton Valley Ranch between Brady
and Dutton.
They spent most of their married life in Brady in the house
that Hilmer built, right next door to Mildred's childhood
home. It never mattered to her that it was "the wrong side
of the tracks." In Brady, Mildred was an active community
citizen: she was a lifelong member of the Royal Neighbors of
America, served as a substitute teacher for the Brady Public
Schools; was a 4-H leader; and volunteered as a member of
the Ground Observer Corps (reporting any planes flying over
her airspace to the Air Force). She worked in the Pondera
County Extension Office for 20 years, providing information,
encouragement, and guidance to countless 4-H members and
farm families.
Mildred was an avid conservator of family and local history.
She researched and wrote the history of the Trost and Hill
families for the coming generations. Her writings, memories,
and scrapbooks were instrumental in creating the book "On
the Track of History," an account of Brady in the 20th
century. Her work has also been helpful in writing a history
of the Brady Methodist Church. Her parents were charter
members of the Brady Church and serving the church was her
lifelong devotion. She was a member since 1932 and active in
the Ladies' Aid, choir, Bible study and special projects.
She started out teaching Sunday school, then enjoyed many
years as the Sunday school superintendent. She loved singing
with the children, organizing Vacation Bible School, and her
Christmas programs were always a festive reminder of the
real meaning behind the season.
Children were her greatest delight, whether it was her own
children, the Sunday schoolers, Brady school children, 4-H
members, or the neighborhood children who were always
welcome to walk in the back door, get a cookie out of an
always full cookie jar, and sit down and play.
Living next door to her mother Blanche enabled Mildred to
care for her in her later years. Caregiving was always an
important aspect of Mildred's life, and she extended her
loving care to immediate and extended family members and
some friends who became family, as well. She was always
ready to lend a hand with a lot or a little as needed - the
coffee pot was full and lunch was ready for anyone who
stopped by up until she moved from the Brady home after
Hilmer's death in 2008. She loved well and was well-loved.
After years of being a loving caregiver to others, Mildred
spent her last two years in the gentle care of the staff at
The Goldstone Assisted Living home in Great Falls. Words
cannot express the depth of the family's gratitude for the
comfort of knowing that she was content and pampered in
their care.
|