John Nesbit

Funeral Services: will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Poplar at10:00 A.M. on July 21, 2003.

Internment: Following in the in the Poplar Cemetery.

Born in South Dakota, John grew up on a farm in Mineral Bench thirty miles north of Poplar. As a young man he worked at home and on other area farms.In the falls of 1932 and 1933 he worked in the beet fields at Fairview,Montana, and in July 1934 he went to Fort Peck to work on the dam. He didtwo stints on Fort Peck, the second time driving Euclid trucks and semis.When that job ended, he drove back to the farm to help harvest and, later,with two Baker boys, mined and sold coal. In 1936 he worked briefly for H.Earl Clack in Poplar (his brother-in-law Manny ran the station), but soon hereturned to Fort Peck, again to drive truck. In April 1938 he returned toPoplar to work for H. Earl Clack, and in October of that year he transferredto Nashua to run the Clack station there. When the World War II draft boardcalled, he went-no questions asked. His tour of duty took him first toCanada and then to the South Pacific.

After the war he partnered with one of four brothers, Tommy (Bud and Stubhad already paired), and for seven years farmed land rented from ReubenNordwick. During those years he gradually acquired land of his own, and soonhe worked only that. As crops got "a little better," his brothers and hebuilt a new home for their mother ("from outhouse to penthouse"), and beforelong John decided to build a place of his own five miles south-his own houseand outer buildings, his own beautiful grove. Perhaps because the home grovehad deteriorated, John planted a new one. It turned into a landmark, asource of pride, for the Mineral Bench community, and before he died, hesometimes wondered, "Who is going to take care of my trees?"John worked, always, mostly on the land, with which he developed a kind ofkindred spirit, but somehow he managed to serve for seventeen years on theASCS County Board and for many on the Poplar Hospital Board and on theboards of the Traders State Bank (Poplar) and the Citizens Bank (Scobey). In1984 he married Doreene Haugan in the First Presbyterian Church in Poplar.John was a straight arrow-proud, dignified, demanding of those who workedfor and with him, a little old-fashioned morally, perhaps, but a gentleman.He loved nice clothes and was cavalier with the ladies. What a void he isgoing to leave-in his family, in his community, even in the state.John is preceded in death by his mother (Marie), his father (Ralph), twosisters (Nellie and Mabel), three brothers (Russell, called Bud, Ralph,called Stub, and Tommy), and two brothers-in-law (Norman Jensen and MannyBaker).

He leaves to mourn his death a wife, Doreene, who made the lastyears of his life truly golden, a younger brother, Charles (wife Betty), asister-in-law, Grace, and a bevy of nieces and nephews and other closefriends:William (Bill) Jensen (wife Mary) and family (Hope, Idaho)Dr. James Baker (wife Karen) and family (Minneapolis)Mary Lynne Granbois and family (Poplar)Larry Nesbit (wife Berva Dawn) and family (Rupert, Idaho)Jim Nesbit (wife Mary) and family (Poplar)Dave Nesbit (wife Nancy) and family (Three Forks)Lynn Jensen (Billings)

And there is a second family, who likewise grieve: Michael L. Haugan (Willow Creek) and family Catherine Kirkpatrick (husband Gary) and family (Glendive)Linda McGinnis (husband Joe) and family (Billings)Kevin Haugan (wife Debbie) and family (Livingston)Kim Jennings (husband Greg) and family (Riverside, Alabama)

Still other mourners include old neighbors and long-time friends in whose homes, for a while at least, the return to normal will be gradual.
The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of Industries
Enacted upon Earth--
The brushing up of Heart
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until Eternity.
--Emily Dickinson

John was not the ordinary lover of poetry, but he was always proud of his "English teacher brother," Charlie, who hopes these words are big enough to carry all the love and respect everyone feels.

Funeral services will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Poplar at10:00 A.M. on July 21, 2003. Burial will be in the Poplar Cemetery.