Warren Willoughby, 65, of Vida, Montana, went home to be the Lord on Friday April 4th, 2014 at Sanford Hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Warren is survived by his wife Georgia of 29 years, children Maggie (Dohn) Ratliff , Sam(Deanne)Willoughby, Jeff (Kate) Haugen, Windle Eric Willoughby, Lana (Richard) Metcalf, Jess (Jamie) Willoughby, grandchildren Manni and Charity, Dayton and Samantha, Bechler and Hudson, Mikaila, Ty, Tina and Audrey, James, Ian and Sean, and Dahlia, who shares his birthday. He is also survived by brother Jim (Kathryn) Willoughby, and Alice (Gene) Engen as well as many nieces and nephews.
Born August 16th, 1948, he was raised on the Willoughby farm by his parents, Dayton and Ingrid, and learned to work with cattle, dairy and farming. He was always a musician, a passion that continued throughout his life. He studied music at the University of ND in Grand Forks, but teaching was not his calling so he moved to Glasgow, MT and began his career working heavy construction. This change in direction became the melody of his life for many years. He moved to Gillette, Wyoming working in the oil field and coal communities. In fall of 1973 he established Warren’s Dozer and Backhoe service. You could always see and hear him traveling the area in his baby blue “tonner” pulling the backhoe. In 1981 he returned to the Willoughby farm and assisted Dayton and Ingrid with the day-to-day operations.
January 31 of 1985 he and Georgia were married and worked together in the construction industry, farming and cattle. Through the years he sang, played banjo and guitar anytime, and anywhere, even traveling to different states to share his talents when asked. He was active in the Vida Community Church, the First Lutheran Church, and entertained the folks at Faith Home in Wolf Point playing music and using his unique blend of abilities. He continued to use the backhoe and dozer to build springs, pits and other projects in the area. He had a wide circle of friends and loved to talk. The mornings were always spent on the phone with multiple friends in the community and he always had a joke, anecdote, or opinion to share. He was a bright light and larger than life. He will be missed.
He made many friends through the months of intermittent hospital stays and Doctor visits and we are thankful for their compassionate, thorough care during his illness, and their appreciation of who he was as a person. Even in the most difficult of times staff in Wolf Point and Bismarck were remarkable.
The family will receive friends on Wednesday, April 9th, 2014 from 4:30 until 6:30 pm at Clayton-Stevenson Memorial Chapel, 102 Custer, Wolf Point, MT. Funeral service will be held at 10:00 am Thursday, April 10th, 2014 at First Lutheran Church, 415 Johnson St., Wolf Point, MT. Pastor Gregory Holler-Dinsmore officiating.