Obituaries Bryan Adam Holland

On August 26, 2022 we lost our beautiful son and brother Bryan Adam Holland of Aberdeen, Maryland. He was born in Towson, Maryland on August 20, 1988. He lived his frst fve years in Westminster, Maryland. In July of 1994 the family moved to Hamilton, Montana where he lived for the next 11 years. He graduated early from Hamilton high school in 2005. He was awarded a national merit scholarship and attended Arizona State University graduating with a degree in organic chemistry. He went on to work in Tooele Utah destroying chemical weapons left over from the world wars. It was a job he thoroughly enjoyed and it eventually took him to the main ofce in Aberdeen, Maryland.

He was an avid consumer of knowledge, collecting so many books relating to various interests including science, history, fction, religion, electronics, computers, and cooking. After his death, we donated 40 boxes of books to the Vietnam veterans.

He was married in 2012 and divorced in 2019.

When he was 21 and still in college, he was diagnosed with type one diabetes which he controlled fairly well for ten years and then he didn’t or couldn’t, eventually leading to complications and his death.

He had a love for baseball and we spent many an hour online watching Orioles games together.

The last time we saw him was on July 4th when we all went to a game at Camden yards.

He is survived by us, his parents Joe and Ellen Holland of Hamilton, Montana, brother Kyle Holland of Helena, Montana, many uncles, aunts, cousins, God parents, church family, friends, students, and teachers.

Donations can be made to JDRF type one diabetes research.

In loving memory Bryan Adam Holland August 20,1988-August 26, 2022.

William ‘Bill’ Sweet III

William “Bill” Sweet III, 86, of Darby, passed away on Friday, July 28, 2023, doing what he loved - riding his bicycle in the Bitterroot Mountains. He was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of the late William Sweet II and Bernice (Walton) (Sweet) Hilley.

Bill grew up in Los Angeles, attending John Marshall High School, then LA City College (Cal State LA), where he studied physical education, math, and science. During college, he played on the school’s basketball team while working as a beekeeper and a hospital orderly. He also backpacked extensively in Yosemite Park.

After graduating from college in 1960 Bill visited Polson and fell in love with Montana. In 1962 he started teaching PE at Darby High School and earned a Master’s degree from Idaho State at Pocatello in 1966. From then on, he taught math until his retirement in 1995. He supported Darby schools and students throughout his teaching career and during his retirement. A teacher to his core, he never stopped learning, sharing his knowledge, and being a good citizen.

In 1963 he married Lois V. Goddard of Corvallis, MT, and together they raised fve

Daniel Dee Wall

Daniel Dee Wall, 61, passed away Sunday, August 6, 2023 at his home in Florence surrounded by family. He was born July 26, 1962 in Missoula to Carole and Thadious Wall.

Dan received his GED and later his CDL license and also a fre card.

Dan was married to Doneda E.

Death Notices

Richard J. Minch

Hunter on June 23, 1990.

His career path included a log truck driver, a heavy equipment operator, a lowboy hauler and on the fre crews.

Dan enjoyed O-Mok-See, fshing, hunting, hiking in the mountains and horses.

Dan was preceded in death by his

Missoula - Richard J. Minch, 76, of Missoula passed away Saturday, August 5, 2023 at Bitterroot Health Daly Hospital in Hamilton. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www,whitesittfuneralhome.com.

Johnny B. Blalock, Jr.

Garland, Texas - Johnny B. Blalock,, Jr., 67, passed away in the evening, Thursday, August 3, 2023, in the Emergency room at Bitterroot Health children in Darby. Bill stayed active and curious about the world and people around him. He was always ready for a bike ride or ping pong, a hike to learn about plants, local conservation work, and any school/community event. An avid fy fsherman and hunter, he taught his family and many in the community about the outdoors.

Bill is survived by Lois and their four daughters and one son: Melanie (Mike) Jetmore of Hamilton; Fred (Lori) Sweet of Walla Walla, WA; Kathy (Steve) Henault of Hamilton; Kelly (Damon) Hall of Las Vegas, NV; and Jennifer (Jon) Rodibaugh of Rochester, NY. He is also survived by his sister, Sandy Smith of Mangum, OK, and several nieces and nephews. Bill was always proud of his 10 granddaughters, two grandsons, four great granddaughters, and three great grandsons.

Memorial services will be held on September 9, 1:30 p.m. at the Darby High School gymnasium. Condolences may be left for the family at www.dalyleachchapel.com

The family suggests that memorials can be made to:

Bill Sweet Memorial Scholarship - Darby High School, 209 School Drive, Darby MT 59829 or Bitterroot Cross-Country Ski Club - (https://www.bitterrootxcskiclub.net/membership/) father, two sets of grandparents, inlaws, several nephews and nieces and several uncles and aunts.

He is survived by his wife, Doneda of Florence; his mother, Carole of Florence; a sister, Sandra of Farmington, NM; a brother, Tim of Stevensville; aunts and uncles; numerous in Hamilton. The inurnment will take place at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens in Savannah, Georgia. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.brothersmortuary.com.

Dr. Phillip L. Dean, D.O.

Corvallis - Dr. Phillip L. Dean, D.O., 77, passed away in the night, Thursday, August 3, 2023, at the family residence in Corvallis. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www. brothersmortuary.com

Robert W. Gerber

Stevensville - Robert W. Gerber, 67, passed away Friday, July 28, 2023 at his home in Stevensville. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.whitesittfuneralhome.com.

Diana L. Bright nieces, nephews and cousins; two step-children, Scott of Fairbanks, AK and Autumn of San Diego, CA. He loved his wife dearly and together they shared a good life. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.whitesittfuneralhome. com.

Stevensville - Diana L. Bright, 77, of Stevensville passed away, Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at The Living Centre. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.whitesittfuneralhome.com.

Jamie L. Wellborn

Merritt Island, Florida - Jamie L. Wellborn, 47, died in the afternoon, Monday, July 31, 2023, due injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident on Highway 93 south of Conner at Mile Marker 21, after coming in contact with gravel on the roadway. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.brothersmortuary.com

Dorinda H. Troutman

Hamitlon - Dorinda H. Troutman, 78, passed away early in the morning, Saturday, July 22, 2023, at the family home in Hamilton. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www. brothersmortuary.com.

William D. ‘Bill’ Kochever

Hamilton - William D. “Bill” Kochever, 63, passed away in the morning, Saturday, July 29th, 2023, at the Community Medical Center in Missoula. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.brothersmortuary.com hardly fshed at all.

The air was pleasantly warm on one of those early June days when the whole earth seemed freshly green and in bloom.

I was walking down the hall to my next class, looking out the windows at the fgures of breeze-swept clouds against a sky made clean by a light fresh rain and knowing that I didn’t want to be here, listening to another afternoon lecture at a junior college.

The whole notion of being where I was at that moment seemed ridiculous. It made much more sense, in keeping with the rhythms of life bursting forth beyond the dull taupe walls of that hallway, to be out in the open air, clambering over rocks instead of plodding in unison down the hall with other classgoers. It was stufy where I was. I wanted to be in open air with the fresh scents of fr and pine and lichens on wet rocks with a rod in my hand and one fresh pool after another in front of me, waiting to be fshed.

by Chuck Stranahan

I caught the eye of my best friend heading the other way. We could read each other without words, but sometimes used a few - or stayed up for hours in that kind of extended talk where souls meet.

At that moment we didn’t need words. We was on the same wavelength. We looked at each other for a split-second and I said, “Let’s go!”

Classes were ditched, quick stops were made to grab rods and provisions on our way to a mountain stream, not far of.

The easier, more accessible stretches of this stream were seldom fshed, and the stretch we fshed that day was

The banks were lined with heavy brush, although once you made the bushwhack and steep drop through the dust and brambles to get to the creek you could rock-hop or wade your way down it or up it with more ease than seemed possible by looking from the one-lane bridge above. You had to be nineteen years old and half-crazy to make a regular thing of it and we were both, and we knew that around the bend where the creek was out of view from the road, there were deeper and bigger rock-bound pools that held the stream’s biggest trout. From the road you’d only see the trees on the ridges that shaded the pools in that miniature canyon.

The fsh weren’t all that big, really; fourteen inches was a good-sized one and they ran from that on down to maybe ten, which was the biggest you’d expect in the creek’s more civilized areas with better access and smaller water. The big fsh would be browns and the smaller ones would be an admix of the browns and native rainbows. They were all dark-backed, thick, wild and beautifully colored. We eventually got into fshing the rivers, occasionally and then regularly for bigger fsh, trout at frst, and then steelhead. But we still made occasional pilgrimages to the small streams where we learned and caught a certain ethereal sense of what our fshing gave us. We never tired of revisiting those kinds of places – more intimate, innocent, unspoiled than any major river can be, and in some ways more connected to what’s left of those innocent and unspoiled places within ourselves. We learned which parts of those streams held fsh and which parts didn’t. We learned where to fnd the biggest fsh. We learned the importance of stealth, not disturbing the water or vision feld of the trout it contained if we expected to catch them. We learned the importance of having the fy look natural to the trout once it hit the water, and we learned to appreciate the wild beauty of the trout themselves. The ones we killed to eat later were killed mercifully, respectfully, and the ones we returned to the water were carefully revived and able to swim away.

We enjoyed the solitude and spirit of quiet adventure we found on small streams along with the bonds that were deepened between us – bonds I later formed on other small streams with my sons and grandsons.

If you haven’t done so recently, you might want to give a small stream a try – to discover all fresh or rediscover where it all comes together – the nexus of fyfshing to be found on a small stream.