Theodore Ted Ostendorf

Visitation: Friday, September 11, 2009 at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Miles City with family receiving friends from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Funeral Service: Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Miles City.

Graveside Service: Private family interment will be held at a later date.

Theodore Ted Ignatz Ostendorf, 87, of Ismay, Montana passed away on Monday, September 7, 2009 at Holy Rosary Hospice in Miles City.

Ted was born on August 27, 1922 to German immigrant parents, Ignatz John and Marie (Beilage) Ostendorf at home on the family ranch on the Powder River. He joined his two older brothers, Walter and Alvin Benno and little sister Hortense soon followed. He learned English at the age of 6 when he attended the local one-room school Riverview the first of 3 generations. The family survived the depression by irrigated farming and raising cattle and eventually added the adjacent Selway sheep ranch. Ted went on to attend Custer County High School, boarding out with his sister Hortense at the Flanze apartments and graduating in 1940 with honors. During this time they lost his mother to breast cancer. He earned a science scholarship to Montana State University which he gave up to work on the ranch as an essential farm worker with the onset of WWII. In the years following the war, he continued working the family ranch and played on the local Pine Hills baseball team.

In 1949, he met Rosalie Stoerchli of Seattle when she accompanied his sister home. It was love at first sight, and after 10 days he proposed to her at the Crossroads Inn. In July, she accepted and went home to prepare for the wedding on September 10,1949 at the St. Paul English Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington. They soon welcomed their first child Karen Mary in 1950, followed by Thomas Steven in 1954, Marla Lynne in 1958, and Mark John in 1968.

Ted was an avid reader and subscribed to the Wall Street Journal for years. The family made their home at the ranch on the Powder River, raising Hereford cattle and later switching to Red Angus. He also kept all the ranch records. Ted instilled a love of raising cattle and ranching in his children. Ted loved to dance, listen to music, and was excellent at the waltz and polka. He played the guitar, fiddle and accordion. He bowled for many years and took the state doubles championship with Carl Horn in 1971. Not many people could beat Ted at horseshoes. He and his wife have been very active in the Southeastern Montana Fiddlers serving for several years as director. Ted was a lifetime member of the Elks, a longtime member of Montana Stockgrowers, a Century member of Farm Bureau, Range Riders, School Board Trustee, former member of the Miles City Club, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Miles City.

Ted is survived by his wife Rosalie Stoerchli Ostendorf of nearly 60 years, their four children: Karen (Fred) Drga of Knowlton, Thomas (Lillian) Ostendorf of Powderville, Marla (James) Drga of Big Sandy, and Mark (Christina) Ostendorf of Ismay/Mizpah, 12 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren, as well as his sister Hortense (Leonard) Rolf and family of the Pine Hills.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers.

Memorials may be made to the Range Riders Museum or to the charity of one's choice.