Grace Sexton, 93, a longtime Billings resident who was active in her church, died at home on Friday, Nov. 16, 2012.

She was born Feb. 8, 1919, in Calvin, N.D., to Fred and Anastasia (Fitzgerald) Bittner.

After graduating from teaching college, she spent two years teaching elementary school before marrying John L. Sexton on Aug. 2, 1941. They spent the first years of their marriage living on various Army bases.

When Mr. Sexton was deployed to Germany in World War II, she moved back to Calvin to take care of their family.

She had received care from Rocky Mountain Hospice.

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Alma Fletcher Koerner, 102, of Miles City, known to friends and family as “Toots” and “Aunt Toots,” died Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012, at Billings Butterfly Homes.

She was born in Herman, Neb., on Dec. 23, 1909, the sixth child of Lee and Bessie Fletcher. The family was completed with four more siblings.

In 1917, the family moved to Roundup, traveling by train. In 1924 they moved to Miles City, where she graduated from Custer County High School in 1929.

She studied to become a teacher and later taught in a country school. She met Clarence Koerner in 1932, and they were married for 49 years. They lost an infant son, Fredrick, in 1937.

Mr. Koerner served from 1942-45 in Europe during World War II while Mrs. Koerner and Sue Fletcher worked and spent time with family in Washington and Oregon.

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Services will be Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012, for William David Collins, 93, whose jobs included buying and then selling trucks after converting them to farm use.

He was born June 5, 1919, at Newton Grove, a post office 25 miles northwest of Custer. His parents were Albert Collins and Lillian Bailey; he was number five of 10 children. He attended the one-room Hills View School, graduated from Custer High School in June 1937 and attended one semester at Bozeman College.

During the early years the entire family worked on the Collins homestead farm and ranch in northern Yellowstone County. In September 1939, Mr. Collins married Maybelle White in Red Lodge.

His jobs included leasing and managing the Collins farm and ranch operation for six years; selling cars and trucks for Archie Cochrane Ford for 16 years; and, from 1982-1996, traveling with his wife and purchasing trucks in Texas, North Dakota, Kansas, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, taking them to Billings and converting them for ranch and farm use, then selling them to farmers and ranchers in Montana and Wyoming.

During World War II, he worked as a warehouse superintendent at Hill Field Airbase in Ogden, Utah. During the 1950s, he operated a dry-land farm in the Colby, Kan., area.

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Cindi Rykowski, 43, died Nov. 5, 2012.

She was born to William and Donna Calvert on Jan. 9, 1969, in Brookline, Mass. She spent many summers in Cooke City with her Grandma Nordquist.

She graduated from Billings West High School in 1987 and married Ed on June 5, 1993.

Survivors include her husband; a daughter, Ariel; sons, Taylor, Eddy, Sam, Jon, Joshua, Shawn and Aarron; 12 grandchildren; mother; and a brother, Bill.

A private family ceremony was planned. Arrangements were in the care of Dahl Funeral Chapel.

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Naomi Lanore Dalley, 97, who had worked in agricultural offices and at City Hall in Billings, died at her home in Billings on Nov. 10, 2012.

She was born on a farm in Hettinger, N.D., and studied one year at Valley City Teachers College in Fargo, N.D., and six months at Fargo Business College. She then worked at Fargo Agricultural School before moving to Washington and working at several agricultural offices.

Moving to Billings, she married Joseph William Dalley in 1952. She designed, and together with her husband, built their dream house on Custer Avenue, which was vacant farmland at the time.

Mr. Dalley died in 1979. In 2007, Mrs. Dalley sold the house and moved in with a daughter, Kalyn, and her husband.

Mrs. Dalley was a charter member of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. She had been involved in Girl Scouts, 4-H and dog shows with her daughters.

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Shirley O’Leary, 90, who had been a secretary and housewife, died at St. John’s Lutheran Home in Billings on Nov. 6, 2012.

She was born in Milwaukee on Feb. 17, 1922, to Herbert Rau and Irma (Knobel) Rau. She was raised in West Allis, Wis. After graduating from high school, she moved to Montana in 1946. A year later she met her future husband, Barry Joseph O’Leary. He died Aug. 2, 1981.

She made stained glass, baked and cooked, traveled and played golf. She was a volunteer at St. Vincent Hospital for 40 years, working at the Cherrynook and the gift shops. She also did hospital visits for St. Pius X Catholic Church.

Survivors include a daughter, Sharon A. Kummerfeldt; twin siblings, John and Judy Soderman; and three grandsons.

Memorial Mass was Nov. 9 at St. Pius X Catholic Church. Private family interment took place at Holy Cross Cemetery, before Mass. Arrangements were in the care of Dahl Funeral Chapel.

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Alexander Michael Parker, 26, of Billings, who attended Montana State University Bozeman as a math major, died Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012.

He was born April 9, 1986, in Billings to James Michael Parker and Margaret Beth Parker, and had two brothers. He graduated from Colstrip High School in 2004.

Painting, acting and the Atlanta Falcons were among his passions.

Survivors include his father, James Parker; stepmother, Judy Parker; brothers, Mackenzie James Parker of Boston, Mass., and Joseph Edward Parker of Billings; and a stepbrother, Jesse Medearis of Dillon.

Visitation was Nov. 9 at Cremation & Funeral Gallery. Services were Nov. 10 at Cremation & Funeral Gallery. Cremation followed the service.

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Robert O’Sullivan, 91, who worked many years for General Electric Supply Co., died Nov. 10, 2012.

He was born June 13, 1921, the third of six children born to an Irish immigrant and his Swedish bride. When he was 18, his father died of miner’s consumption, and he worked to support his mother and his younger siblings. He attended Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City and married Dorothe Cooper in 1950.

Mr. O’Sullivan worked at General Electric Supply Co. for 33 years. After he retired, he went back to work for Crescent Electric and Wesco Supply, driving all over the state to make sales. In his 80s, he worked at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary.

Mr. O’Sullivan was a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus, and was active in the Elks Lodge, Exchange Club and the Golden K Kiwanis.

He and his wife traveled extensively and had a family cabin near Fairfield, Idaho. They attended St. Vincent’s Supervised Exercise Program from 1989 until his death.

Continue reading: Robert William O’Sullivan

Danny Mercado, 72, a retired copy machine technician, died Nov. 5, 2012, after suffering from lung disease and congestive heart failure.

He was born to Thelma and Antone Mercado on June 12, 1940, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He joined the Air Force in December 1959 and served in Japan and Victorville, Calif., until April 1964, when he was honorably discharged.

He worked at Honolulu Mountain Bell from 1968-1970. He married Becky Hunt in 1970 but later divorced.

He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture briefly before joining Xerox as a copy machine technician in Bakersfield, Calif., Rock Springs, Wyo., and Cody, Wyo. In 1975 he moved back to Honolulu as a single dad.

He attended community college and the University of Hawaii studying physics. He worked for Canon as a copy machine technician from 1981 until April 1995 when he moved back to Montana. Again he found a job as a Canon copy machine technician with Wickmans in Kalispell. He moved to Helena in 1996 and started work with Xerox.

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Robert “Bob” Howard Feldman, AKA “The Old Fossil,” 72, of Billings, a teacher and fossil collector who had a subclass of crabs named after him, died Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012, at Eagle Cliff Manor.

He was born Oct. 4, 1940, to Howard C. “Bud” and Eleanor M. Feldman in Grand Forks, N.D. He had one sister. After high school, he graduated with a bachelor’s, then a master’s degree in geology at the University of Northern Colorado.

He served in the Air Force at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb. He married Claudia L. Daniels on March 19, 1966, in Mountain View, Mo.

Mr. Feldman taught earth science in School District 2 for 25 years. He wrote “Rock Hounds Guide to Montana” and co-wrote “Rock Hounding Montana.” He was an avid fossil collector and spent many days in the field, primarily the Pryor Mountains.

He found a brand new subclass of Cretaceous crab, which was named after him, and ammonites that are housed at the Smithsonian Institute.

Continue reading: Robert ‘Bob’ Howard Feldman