Gust Kuehn

Visitation: Visitation will be held on Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Terry.

Funeral Service: Wednesday, October 5, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. at the Grace Lutheran Church in Fallon

Interment: Prairie County Cemetery

Gust Kuehn, age 90, of Terry passed away on Friday, September 30, 2005 at the Friendship Villa Care Center in MilesCity.

Gust Kuehn was nearly a life-long resident of Prairie County, Montana. Gust was born on June 24, 1915, in Zap, North Dakota, to Gotthilf and Lydia (Buechler) Kuehn. Soon after his birth, his parents moved to Prairie County and bought ranch and farm land north of Terry on Brackett Creek. Gust completed primary grades in the BeckerSchool and was confirmed in the American Lutheran Church that met at the community hall at Olanda, Montana. As a young man he worked for the WPA, helped with the construction of Fort Peck dam, and herded sheep for the Grue family.

Gust married Freida Scheid on August 1, 1935, in Terry, Montana. Their first home was on the former Parmly farm on Bad Route Creek north of Terry. They subsequently moved about four miles north to the former Henry Wilson farm in 1937, and in 1939, they purchased and rented farmland on Bad Route Creek. Here they established their home for two decades. From the late 1930s through the mid-1950s, Freida and Gust annually managed about 1200 acres of farmland and about 110 head of cattle on a wheat and cattle operation. In 1946, the closing of a nearby country school forced Gust and Freida to purchase a residence in Terry, in order to provide schooling for their children. In 1954, Gust purchased a number of small businesses in Terry. One was a freight-delivery business which daily delivered freight from depots for Northern Pacific and Milwaukee Railroads to Terry business establishments. Another was a city garbage collection business. And, a third included two contracts for delivery of mail for the U.S. Postal Service. One contract required delivery of mail from the Northern Pacific Railroad depot to the local post office three times daily, and the second contract was a rural mail-delivery route to Zero, Montana. Gust managed his businesses until 1977 when the freight-hauling business was sold. Also, in 1976, he sold most of his farm north of Terry. He continued the mail-delivery contracts until 1983 when he formally retired.

In his younger years Gust enjoyed hunting, fishing, dancing, and cards. He had an entertaining sense of humor and was a master storyteller, with a story for every particular situation. He was deeply committed to his Lutheran faith and served as an elder at Grace Lutheran in Fallon for years. He contributed to his community by serving as a volunteer fireman, city councilman, cemetery board member, and Chamber member. Gust lived in the Prairie County Medical Assistance Facility and Nursing Home after the death of his wife in 1998. He moved to the Friendship Villa in MilesCity in 2001 where he died on September 30 of a multiple-resistant bacterial infection.

Gusts survived by three daughters and one son: Gladys Comer (Lloyd Comer) of Miles City, MT; Marian Strobel (Donald Strobel) of Terry; Glenn Kuehn (Donna Reuther) of Las Cruces, NM; and Karen Johnson (Leonard Johnson) of Moscow, ID.

Preceding him in death were his wife, Freida in April 1998, one daughter, Margie Irene, in 1937, and one grandson, Rickie Gene Comer, in 1971. Gust had nine grandchildren (Rickie, Rocky, Rodney, Donita, Justina, Karla, Tara, Joshua and Jenessa) and eleven great grandchildren (Amie, Tyler, Brielle, Maggie, Erika, Rick, Cassidy, Brooke, Seth, Ellie, and Megan). Also surviving are his siblings: Clarence (Violet) Kuehn and Darlane Pisk of Terry and Mildred (Kenneth) Liefke of Washington.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Terry. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. at the Grace Lutheran Church in Fallon. Interment will follow in the family lot in the Prairie County Cemetery. Condolences may be made to the family by visitingwww.stevensonandsons.com. Should friends desire, memorials may be given to the Prairie County Cemetery Fund for new tree plantings, the Prairie County Health Department for personal care, or to GraceLutheran Church in Fallon.