Frank Christian Thompson, 96, Wolf Creek area rancher, passed away September 6, 2011 at the Masonic Home in Helena of natural causes.<\/p>\n
Frank was born April 7, 1915 at the family homestead on the Middle Fork of the Dearborn River known as Stearns. His parents were Frank Tobias and Lia Christine Steinbach. He attended area county schools for several years. His mother passed away when he was 8 years old. Inheriting a sum of money from her, he purchased his Uncle Theodore Thompson\u2019s homestead on the North Forks of the Dearborn. Thus began spending winters in California, Frank was educated at Union Central School until he finished his junior year of high school. His father had him stay at the ranch the following year. His sister, Frances insisted that he finish high school. He stayed with her in Dillon and graduated from Beaverhead County High School. In high school, he participated in football and was a leader on the Debate Team.<\/p>\n
When Frank was 20 years old, his father informed him he had to \u201crun this outfit\u201d because Frank Sr. had to go to California and care for his ailing brother, Theodore. They ran both cattle and sheep. Frank has been ranching ever since, constantly increasing his land holdings and improving his livestock.<\/p>\n
Fay Elizabeth Brown became his bride on September 3, 1939 and to this union, four children were born: Tom, Nancy, Art and Ken.<\/p>\n
His service to his community, county, state and country were vast. Always an advocate for the 4-H program, he served as a leader for 24 years. The Soil Conservation Service was another of his long term programs, both local, state and national for over 50 years. He was a member of the Eastern Star, Masonic Lodge, Shrine, Scottish Rite, school board member and airport board member. Frank and Fay were designated Goodwill ambassadors to Japan, Russia, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. They received the MSU Rancher of the Year Award in 1996.<\/p>\n
A sister, Frances Lia Sewell Wendell, and his wife of 68 years preceded him in death.<\/p>\n
Survivors included Tom R. (Lydia) Thompson of Helena, Nancy (Ron) Johnson of Dillon, Art (Margie) Thompson of Wolf Creek, and Ken (Judy) Thompson of Helena.<\/p>\n
Grandchildren include Dr. Christina (Kevin) Blake of Brush, CO., Gregg (Melissa) Thompson of Helena, 1st Class Petty Officer Doug (Rose) Johnson of San Diego, CA., Deanna (Larry) Steele of Sundance, WY., Don (Letha) Johnson of Dillon, Jeffrey Johnson of Dillon, Rebecca (EB) Richie of Boulder, WY., Dr. Beth (Augie) Bola of San Diego, CA., Frank R. (Mindy) Thompson of Wolf Creek, Ken (Nicole) Lewis of North Pole, Alaska. Great grandchildren include; Bailey Kay, Kacey and Amy Blake, Cade Thompson, Remy Frank and Callie Elizabeth Johnson, Jep, Devon, Trista, Cinch Richie, Corbin Thompson, Tyler and Logan Lewis. One niece and one nephew also survive.<\/p>\n
A memorial service celebrating Frank\u2019s life will be 10:00 a.m. Monday, September 12th at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home. A reception will be in the upper level of Jorgenson\u2019s Restaurant immediately following the memorial service. A Masonic Burial Rite will be at Augusta Cemetery later that day. Memorials are suggested to the Shriner\u2019s Hospital for Children C\/O Algeria Shrine P.O. Box 1174 Helena, MT 59624or the Masonic Home of Montana 2010 Masonic Home Road Helena, Montana 59602 or to an organization of the donor\u2019s choice. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting: www.aswfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/453100_profile_pic.png","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/929","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=929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}