Big Sandy High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Big Sandy, MT)

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farm. I then came back to school and joined the class of '45. I again dropped out my junior year to help on the farm due to my father's health, never to return to finish my high school education. In 1945 I married Ann M. Fisher of the Iliad community. Not only will I be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the class of '45, but Ann and I will also be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. Ann and I have four children: Gary, Ron, Wayne and Luanne. To these marriages add twelve grandchildren and four great grandchildren. My wife and I have retired from farming but still own the farm which has been leased out to a nephew. Happy 50th to the class of '45 from Louis and Ann Beeler. LOUIS V. BEIRWAGEN HCR 67 Box 41 Loma, MT 59460 (406) 378-3125 I was born on the farm where my father homesteaded and still live there. For my first three years of school I attended the Ray school on the prairie, eighteen miles west of Big Sandy. Then I went to school in Big Sandy with the class of '45 from fourth grade through ninth grade, and dropped out the following year to help on the farm when my brother Art went to the Army. I never returned as later served on the Big Sandy school board for I met June Zanto from Highwood, when she came to Big Sandy to teach Home Economics in 1952, and we were married in 1953. We have three daughters, one son, and seven grandchildren. Our son is now managing our farms and is the third generation on the home place. A daughter and her husband have recently moved out to join him. Our oldest daughter and her family live in Portland, North Dakota and our youngest daughter and her family live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I I feel fortunate to have been involved in the occupation of farming all my life which I enjoyed and it has been good to me. I am now semi retired. a student, but nine years. 30

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We purchased land about 20 miles east of Sacramento and built our retirement home. Joyce and Don Thompson have four children and live in Bremerton, Washington. Jean and Rick Kurtz have two children and live in Bonsall, California. Chuck and Linda Jordan have three children and live in Orangevale, California. December 19, 1990, Charles and I were headed for Bonsall via 1-99 when we stopped at a traffic light at a notorious intersection called the Livingston Light near Merced, California. The big rig behind us didn't! Thank God we were in a heavy vehicle (Chevy Suburban) or we'd be history. Results -the first seven vertebrae of my spine are fused. We have purchased property in Great Falls and plan to build there when our California home sells. I shall miss our variety of fruit and nut trees and flowers and warm, sunny weather. I’m not sure how the Montana weather and my broken back will fare, but we have an R.V. so will probably go south when the temperature drops and the snow birds take flight. LOUIS F. BEELER Box 639 Big Sandy, MT 59520 (406) 378-2114 As my high school education in Big Sandy had been sporadic due to helping my folks on the farm, I had decided to bag getting involved in class history and class reunion for the 50th anniversary of the class of '45. A personal call from Joe Quinn, who I believe could sell most anything to anybody, encouraged me to write this little background of my history of the past 68 years. Born in Yakima, Washington I moved with my parents to Hoquiam and Aberdeen, Washington at an early age. My next move was to Seattle where I attended the Longfellow grade school. Graduating from there in 1939 we then moved to my grandfather's farm 26 miles south east of Big Sandy. This move was due to a tractor accident which resulted in my grandfather's death. Misinformation from the Iliad school teacher telling my parents that my State of Washington diploma was invalid in Montana caused me to take the 8th grade over at Iliad. I then had two 8th grade diplomas. Starting high school in Big Sandy with the class of '44 and going two years I believe, I then dropped out to help on the 29

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ERMA BUCHHOLZ REICHELT Box 516 Big Sandy, MT 59520 (406) 378-2237 My first eight years of school was at the Prairie City country school, which was located only four miles from our farm that I grew up on. During my high school years, I lived in Big Sandy in a small house my parents owned. We only stayed there during the school year and then back to the farm for the summers. In the fall of 1945, I married Donald Reichelt, who had just been discharged from the Army after 3 years. We bought a farm about nine miles west of Big Sandy. He is now semi-retired from farming. We have seven children. Our oldest son, Russell, is now living in Yuma, Arizona, with his wife, Elaine, and three children. He is a civil engineer working for the Federal government. Les, our second son, is living in Glendive, Montana, with his wife, Lisa, and three children and is a Biology teacher at the Dawson Community College. Verlin, our third son, is currently living in Big Sandy with his wife, Patty, and he farms west of Big Sandy. Lenore, our daughter, is living in Big Sandy with her husband, Earl, and three children. She works for Big Sandy Activities and manages two group homes for adults with developmental disabilities. Our next two children were twins. Curt and Corinne. Corinne is living in Frederick, Maryland, and is an accountant for Bionetics. Curt is living with his wife, Janice, and four children in Whitewater, Montana. He manages the Farmer's Union. Our youngest son, John, and his girlfriend, Mary, are living in Billings and he is a hairstylist. He owns his own salon, Park Place. When my son, John, started first grade in 1963, I decided it was time for me to experience something besides taking care of kids. I started working at the Sande Convalescent Home as an aide. Over the next four years, I was able to get licensed as a Licensed Practical Nurse and have continued working for Sande1 s over the past thirty years. I have gone from full-time to part-time and now just work occasionally there. I am now working for Big Sandy Activities as a LPN. I I belong to V.F.W. Auxiliary, Homemakers Club, Sr. Citizens and our local W.C.G. ladies group of the Church of God. I enjoy flower arranging, collecting cookbooks, ceramics, and reading. I also enjoy going on tour bus trips that the local travel agency sponsors. 31