Keith Casterline, husband, father, grandfather, godfather, mentor, and friend, 88, died on January 26, 2016, at St. Vincent’s Hospital surrounded by family members. Keith Hamilton Casterline was born January 3, 1928 on a blistering cold day to Edward and Ida Casterline. Edward, borrowing a new horse at several farmhouses along the way, rode horses all the way to Richey to bring a doctor back to their humble home near Vida, MT to assist with Keith’s birth.
Keith attended elementary school at Schillinger School, located southeast of Vida, where he rode his horse to school. When he was old enough to attend high school, his parents decided that since they lived 30 miles from the high school in Circle, Keith would take a correspondence course to complete his education. Unfortunately, the course did not work out so Keith entered Circle High School in the middle of his freshman year. He and his brother Dean lived in the dormitory in Circle during the school year. Keith participated in high school sports while attending Circle High School, and he would dutifully follow and support Circle High School activities for the rest of his life. While Keith finished his senior year in Circle with the class of 1945, he was required to return to complete the unfinished part of his freshman year and graduated in 1946.
Keith always dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but with one half-brother in medical school and another half-brother killed in the Invasion of Normandy in World War II, he selflessly decided to remain at the family farm to help his father. Keith eventually met Evelyn Marsh from Cow Creek at the Vida roller skating rink and they were married on November 28, 1951. The couple had four daughters and Keith and Evelyn continued to work hard on the farm near Vida, first with Dean in the early years and then with his son-in-law, John, for the next 36 years. Though Keith faced the daunting challenge of dry land farming on the plains of eastern Montana, he found success growing winter and spring wheat, safflower, peas, and barley for 67 years. Along with his career as a farmer, Keith sold farm equipment, primarily Brandt and Wil-Rich products, and he kept a supply of parts for the local farmers.
Keith was actively involved in his community for his entire life. He maintained membership in Gideons International and the Vida Baptist Church (later known as Vida Community Church). He served as a member of the McCone Electric Board, the Basin Electric Board, the Vida Cemetery Board, the Board of Great Northern Development Corporation, and the McCone County Local Government Review. He was a member and officer of the Democratic Party and he ran for the Montana House of Representatives for District 28. He also ran as a delegate of the Montana Constitutional Convention in 1972 and was an active member of the Montana Farmers Union.
A former player for Vida’s baseball team, Keith was a staunch supporter of many sports teams, especially the Minnesota Twins, and he traveled to Minneapolis regularly to see the Twins play in the Metrodome, and more recently, to see the Twins play at Target Field in the summer of 2015. Keith expertly managed a team he appropriately christened Vida Blues in his family’s fantasy baseball league every year. While most his age avoided technology, Keith rejected old-fashioned ways of doing things and fully embraced the technological advancements made in modern times. He took great joy in becoming extremely proficient at learning and utilizing the newest forms of technology such as 3D televisions, smartphones, and laptop computers. Text messaging became a hobby of sorts for Keith when his hearing abilities began to decline and he would text to communicate with those around him. His family particularly enjoyed receiving text messages from him with emoticons thoughtfully and painstakingly tailored to stress the point of his message. A well-read man, Keith loved to keep up with politics and current events by watching CNN and MSNBC and loved even more to discuss these issues at length with family and friends. Any individual who had the pleasure of visiting Keith and Evelyn at their home could always be assured that Keith would take the time to prioritize them over any work that had to be done. Further, as a connoisseur of breakfast foods and coffee, Keith took great care to enjoy both every single morning without fail. Keith possessed an unshakeable faith in God and his writings were sprinkled with biblical phrases; earlier in January of 2016, Keith had written as one of his last entries on the last page of the small date book he always carried in his shirt pocket, “A poor man’s field may produce abundant food but injustice sweeps it away.” (Proverbs 13:23). Keith’s kind, thoughtful, gentle, and generous soul will be greatly missed by all.
He is survived by his wife, Evelyn; daughters DeeAnn Urton and husband John of Vida, Faye Speer and husband Marc of Circle, and Joni Casterline and friend Sue Smith of Portland, OR; granddaughters Kama Urton of Circle, and Raina Urton of Minneapolis, MN; grandson, Dalton Speer of Bozeman; a half-brother, Dr. Vernon Casterline of Keizer, OR; sister-in-law, Rae Murphy of Circle; godchildren Curt Casterline of Billings and Amy Casterline of Baltimore, MD; many nieces and nephews and cousins, and his beloved cat, Blaze. He is preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Dean, his half-brother, Garold, half-sister, Lois Sandberg, and his daughter, Lana.
Visitation will be held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Sunday, January 31 at the Stevenson and Sons Funeral Home in Circle, MT. A funeral service will be held 2 p.m. Monday, February 1 at the First Lutheran Church in Circle, MT. Interment will follow at the Vida Cemetery in Vida, MT. Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel of Wolf Point has been entrusted with the arrangements. Condolences for the family may be left using the form below.