John Janssen

Prayer Service: Tuesday, September 5, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Miles City

Funeral Service: Wednesday, September 6, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Miles City

Interment: Will be held at the Custer County Cemetery at a later date.

John Maurice Janssen, 81, passed away Aug. 30, 2006, at Deaconess Billings Clinic of heart failure following by-pass surgery.

John was born to William M. and Hallie A. (Warkins) Janssen Sept. 17, 1924, at Coalwood, Mont. He was delivered by his midwife grandmother, Jessie O. Warkins. Bill and Hallie ran Janssen Mercantile and the Coalwood Post Office located between Broadus and Miles City.

As a child, John helped with the familys businesses, which included farming and ranching. He and his brother Lew were 4-H members, raising large gardens and fattening steers. Johns early education was atCoalwood School. When it came time for high school, he boarded with his Grandma Janssen in Miles City and attended Custer County District High School. He left school his junior year and took a job in a defense plant in California. He built B-17 bombers for Douglas Aircraft, making 68 cents/hour. He later worked for GeoTechnical Corp., a seismograph company, traveling throughout Montana, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Texas. Eventually he bought his own rig and drilled water wells. He also did dirt work and ran a trucking company.

In 1947, while renting an apartment from Lucille Campbell, he met Alice Fern Campbell. John leased the Campbell Ranch on Powder River for a short time before moving back to Coalwood. There, he leased and bought a combination of pasture and farmland, raising Hereford cattle and wheat on his Twin Buttes Wheat Farm. In the fall, he guided deer and antelope hunters in theCoalwood area and enjoyed hunting elk and bear in western Montana. John and Alice married Aug. 29, 1953, in Sheridan, Wyo., observing their 53rd anniversary the day before his death. Three children were born and raised on the family ranch 20 miles north of Broadus: John Roger (Lana); Jeri Lyn (Robert)Dobrowski; and Dallas Lee (Connie).

John attended artificial insemination school in the 60s and became a rep for American Breeders Service. John and Alice artificially bred their own beef herd and encouraged other ranchers to use exotic breeds semen. Among the breeds he sampled through A.I., along with their registered and recorded Charolais herd, were Beefalo,Tarentaise, Limousin,Chianina, Simmental, Maine Anjou, Murray Grey, Longhorn and Watusi. Alices milk cows were bred to top-of-line Jersey sires. They kept records on their cattle through the Montana Beef Performance Assoc. John successfully raised an A.I. colt decades before it became commonplace.

John and Alice made their home at Coalwood for 45 years before retiring. They moved to a 63-acre parcel on Sunday Creek, just downstream from where L.A. Huffman photographed the jerk-line 12. Happiest when he was busy, John built their new place up from scratch, fencing the property, building corrals and landscaping the yard. He maintained a small herd of cattle up until the time of his death.

As a young man, Johns hobbies included leatherwork and dirt-track stockcar racing. He was a 4-H leader, a Shriner and served on the board of the Range Riders Museum. Recently, he came to enjoy reading Western history, making lamps from hand-forged branding irons and framing pictures. He frequently attended household and antique auctions and was a relief driver on the Kinsey mail route.

John is survived by his wife, Alice; a brother, Lewis (Helen); sons Roger and Dallas; daughter, Jeri; four grandchildren: Jennifer and Brian Dobrowski and John Wyatt and Dillon Janssen; two step grandchildren: John (Ardawna) Denny and Ronna (Eric) Hull; and seven step great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Virginia; a brother, Floyd (Faye); a grandson, BruceDobrowski; and a daughter-in-law, Diane (Roger) Janssen.

The family wishes to acknowledge the medical staff at Billings Clinic for their untiring efforts and exemplary care.

Visitation will begin on Tuesday at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home. A Prayer service will be held on Tuesday, September 5, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Miles City. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, September 6, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Miles City. Interment will be held at the Custer County Cemetery at a later date.

In lieu of flowers the family prefers memorials to the Range Riders Museum, 435 L.P. Anderson Rd, Miles City, MT 59301-4753 or the Jack Jenkins Memorial Scholarship c/o Bob Janssen, HC40, Volborg, MT 59351.