Evelyn Cecilia Bies, 74, whose four children all became teachers, died Thursday, April 19, 2012, after a yearlong battle with cancer.

She was born in Scobey on Aug. 18, 1937, to Harry and Pansie (Phelps) Squires. She grew up on a farm south of Opheim, the youngest of 11 children.

She married Jerry Bies on Sept. 27, 1958. She had received care from RiverStone Hospice.

Survivors include her husband; four children, Rhoda Scally, Kenny Bies, Joe Bies and Jessie Pinkerton; nine grandchildren; and sisters, Lorraine Johnson, Allie Russell, Mary Bartley, Grace Squires, Pat Mueller and Rhoda Campbell.

Services were held April 23 at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church. Arrangements were by Cremation & Funeral Gallery.

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William “Bill” Gaub, 85, an Eastern Montana farm boy who helped secure peace in post-World War II Europe as a GI in the U.S. Occupation Force, died of cancer on April 18, 2012.

Mr. Gaub was born to Jacob J. and Bertha (Knopp) Gaub in Marsh on Jan. 27, 1927. His twin brother was stillborn.

He attended grade school at Bossert School on his parents’ property. Upon graduating from Terry High School in the spring of 1945, he was drafted into the Army.

He traveled by troop ship to Europe, where his tour of duty in occupied Germany lasted nine months. Soon after discharge, Mr. Gaub began farming his own land.

In 1950, Mr. Gaub bought an irrigated farm in the Buffalo Rapids project near Terry. He married Mathilda Neiffer on June 18, 1950, at a rural church near Fallon.

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Susan Carol Briant (Arnold) Vanica, 61, who had worked at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires and lived in a cabin in the Alaskan bush, died early Tuesday morning, April 24, 2012, after a two-year struggle with cancer.

Sue was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 22, 1950, to Ronnie and Jean Briant and attended Northland’s School in Olivos, Argentina. After graduation, she taught school in Argentina and was then employed at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires.

There she met Doyle “Arnie” Arnold, a Marine guard, married him in 1972, and they moved to the United States. They moved a lot because of his military service, including a one-year stay in a cabin in the Alaskan bush.

She had a degree in travel and airlines, an associate’s degree in sociology and anthropology, a bachelor’s degree in human services with an emphasis in gerontology, and she held nursing home administrator licenses in Montana and Oregon. She had worked as a teacher, counselor, secretary, travel agent, social worker and nursing home administrator.

In 1980, Mr. Arnold died. Nine years later, she married Don Vanica.

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Don L. Pace, 56, died Dec. 22, 2011.

He was born Nov. 13, 1955, in Helena.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 28, at First Presbyterian Church in Helena. Private interment will be in Custer County Cemetery in Miles City. Arrangements are by Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home.

Frank Ostwald, 69, of Shepherd, died Thursday, April 19, 2012.

No services were planned. Arrangements were by Cremation & Funeral Gallery.

Marjorie Hunter Werness, 95, a charter member of the Silver Run Ski Club, died March 8, 2012.

She was born on July 2, 1916, in Higginsville, Mo. She moved with her parents, the Rev. Dr. H.W. Hunter and Viola Bruening Hunter, to Billings at age 13. She graduated from Senior High School in 1934.

She was married by her father to Jules Brunton Werness at the Lions Camp in Red Lodge on Nov. 27, 1937. Mr. Werness died in February 1994.

Mr. and Mrs. Werness were charter members of Silver Run Ski Club and also members of the Rod and Gun Club. They both loved to dance to jazz.

After they retired, they spent winters in Arizona and summers in their cabin south of Fishtail. Mrs. Werness had received care from St. John’s Nursing Home and Fischer Cottage.

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Roland “Lindy” Barnes Sr., 84, who had served in both the Army and Marine Corps, died April 13, 2012, of a pulmonary embolism at Billings Health and Rehabilitation.

He was born in Staten Island, N.Y., on Feb. 5, 1928, to John and Josephine Barnes. After attending Curtis High School, he served in the Marines and the Army, where his duty was to transport generals and colonels to their destinations in France and Germany.

After receiving an honorable discharge, he worked on the railroad as a chief engineer in Colorado. He retired from the railroad at age 35, which was then the mandatory retirement age.

He and his family relocated to Billings, where he worked in construction  and then at Midland Packing for approximately eight years, where he was a union steward. After Midland closed, he worked at Billings Deaconess Hospital for three years before being accepted as cable inspector and retiring at the Toole Army Depot.

He married Dorothy on March 17, 1965.

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Patricia Lou (Ruff) Longee, 69, of Billings, died April 4, 2012, after a long illness.

She was born in Laurel on Aug. 19, 1942, the daughter of Alexander Ruff and Rose. Her stepfather was Emil Keierleber.

Survivors include her husband, Jonathan Brown; brothers, Sonnie Ruff of Florida, Jack Keierleber and Tom Keierleber, both of Billings; children, Tracy Mullins, LuNita Ruland and Dave Skinner, all of Billings, Steven Ruland of Pensacola, Fla., Kelli Jo Callan of Maine, and Sgt. Shane Longee, U.S. Marine Corps, son of Jon; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Arrangements were by Cremation & Funeral Gallery.

Darrold Glen Sorlie, 83, of Pompeys Pillar, a retired truck driver, died Tuesday, April 10, 2012.

He and a twin brother, Donald, were born March 17, 1929, in Reeder, N.D., to John Sorlie and Anna Braaten Sorlie. He attended school in Lemmon, S.D., dropping out to work for John Will. He went on to work for a rancher south of Hettinger, N.D., and the Rural Electrification Administration before beginning to drive a truck. He worked for Austads hauling fuel, Lemmon Motor Express and Barber Transportation, where he retired in the 1980s.

He received several awards, the last being a 20-year accident-free buckle and plaque.

He married Vera Spike on Sept. 12, 1948, in Hettinger, N.D. He had received care at Billings Clinic.

Survivors include his wife; three children, Lynn Sorlie of Billings, Penny Vermandel of Pompeys Pillar and Miles Sorlie of Billings; five grandchildren; a great-grandson; and a sister, Lorraine Dietterle of Meadow, S.D.

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Edward August Ahrens, 95, who had been an avid member of the Billings Gem and Mineral Club, died Thursday, April 12, 2012, at RiverStone Hospice.

He was born March 22, 1917, in Wolf Point to Fred and Lydia Ahrens (Radke). During the winters as a young kid, he would hitch Roany and Lizzy, the team he broke himself, to the sled box and pick up all the kids on his long route to school.

He graduated from eighth grade at Southview Elementary and at age 85, he received an honorary high school diploma for his life experience. He worked on the family farm until he went into the service in 1941.

He served with the 41st Infantry Division in the South Pacific Islands during World War II; his specialty was working on Piper Cubs.

His hobbies included rock hounding and lapidary. He received many awards for his displays, including first place for best lapidary in 2011. He also painted, wrote poetry and whittled.

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