Our miracle boy, along with his dad, was unexpectedly taken from this earth to spend eternity in Heaven.<\/p>\n
Bridger made his way into this world nine weeks early, weighing only 3 lbs, 3 oz., and being delivered in Missoula. Although he came into this world a little early, he has no medical problems and he demonstrated the strength we all knew he had.<\/p>\n
Bridger was raised in Helena and was currently in fourth grade at Jim Darcy Elementary. He attended First Assembly of God Church.<\/p>\n
Bridger was silly and playful, making everyone around him smile and laugh whenever possible. He was a bright light to our family that will shine forever.<\/p>\n
Bridger loved fishing and hunting with his dad, brothers, and uncles. Bridger was excited to start Small Fry Football next year, something he has been practicing for all of his young life.<\/p>\n
Bridger particularly liked his mom\u2019s special chocolate chip pancakes, and refused anyone else\u2019s. He was the household cookie monster and there was no place safe to hide them. Not a day would go by without needing beef jerky and pepper sticks in the house for Bridger.<\/p>\n
Bridger loved spending time with family and friends. His favorite movies were Top Gun, Smokey and The Bandit, and Monsters, Inc. Bridger also loved playing a mean game of family BINGO, usually hoarding the good prizes.<\/p>\n
Bridger will be greatly missed and he will live forever in our hearts. He has, by example, encouraged us all to tell the people we care about most that we love them. He always gave lots of hugs and smiles.<\/p>\n
Bridger is survived by his mom, Pamela Hopcroft Hudyma; his brothers, David Strong II (Whitney Armstrong)of Ellensburg, WA; Kyle Strong of Helena; his step-mom, Parrish Strong of Helena; step-siblings, Caleb and Emily MacLean of Helena; grandparents, Paul and Cora Hopcroft of Missoula; Terrell Strong of Missoula, LeeRoy Strong and Esther Strong of Elliston; uncles and aunts, Roy and Sherry Strong of Billings; David and Jennifer Hopcropt of Stevensville; Lisa and Chip Weinrich of Spokane, WA; Kevin and Heather Strong of Boise,
\nID; Patrick and Bettina Hopcropft of Stevensville; Phillip Hopcropft of Florence. He is also survived by numerous cousins, great uncles and aunts and many close family friends.<\/p>\n
Visitation will take place at Retz Funeral Home on Thursday, February 24, 2011 from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Family will receive friends from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.<\/p>\n
Funeral services will take place 2:00 p.m. Friday, February 25, 2011, at Helena First Assembly of God, 2210 Dodge Avenue. Burial will take place at Ft. Harrison Montana Veteran\u2019s Cemetery immediately following the service, where Bridger will be laid to rest beside his dad. Please join the family for a reception at Helena First Assembly, following the burial ceremony.<\/p>\n
To offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Bridger, please visit www.retzfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/1085403.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/23289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}