Lawrence Dellwo

Retired Blackleaf rancher Lawrence Edward Dellwo, 92, a Korean War veteran, died on April 1, 2024, at Benefis Teton Medical Center in Choteau.

A vigil service will be held on April 8 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Choteau at 7 p.m. Funeral mass will be April 9 at 11 a.m. at the church. Interment will be on the family ranch.

Larry was born in Choteau on July 18, 1931, to Tom and Helen (Corcoran) Dellwo. He grew up in Choteau with a large family and graduated from Choteau High School in 1950.

Ranching got into Larry's blood at an early age. He worked at the T.O. Larson Ranch the summer between grade school and high school. He also worked four summers at the A.B. Cobb Ranch and remembered driving into Choteau from the ranch to play baseball two nights a week - even though he didn't get his driver's license until he was out of the Navy.

After he graduated from high school, Larry enlisted in the U.S. Navy in October 1950. He did his basic training in San Diego, California, and was then assigned to the U.S.S. Hank D.D. 702 in San Diego. He was a gunner's mate, third class, and spent three years, 11 months and 25 days on the ship. He traveled widely, docking in Hawaii, Wake Island, Japan, Korea, Nova Scotia, Cuba, Norfolk, Virginia, and Austin, Belgium, among other locales.

While in Cuba, he visited San Juan Hill, where Teddy Roosevelt was made famous.

After his honorable discharge on Oct. 25, 1954, Larry returned to Montana and worked on an oil rig by the Maltby place north of Bynum and with a seismograph crew. He attended two years of college at Eastern Montana College in Billings.

He and his long-time love, Anne Pollock, were married on Sept. 3, 1955, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Choteau. They then moved to Bozeman, where Larry finished his education at Montana State College, graduating in 1958 with a degree in agricultural economics.

They returned to Choteau and Larry worked for two years for Teton County as a surveyor at the Appraisal Office. In July 1960, they moved to the Pollock Ranch west of Bynum in the Blackleaf Canyon, and Larry took over operation of the ranch from his father- and mother-in-law, Duard and Jeanne Pollock. They traded houses with Duard and Jeanne, who then moved into Choteau.

On the ranch, they raised their two sons, Duard "Duke" and Joe, and were part of the rural Blackleaf and Bynum communities.

Larry was an old-time cowboy who loved raising Black Angus cattle and working through the seasons - irrigating, haying, calving, shipping, fencing and more. He was attuned to the rhythms of the land. Friends knew him as a quiet man who liked to keep a low profile, but who also enjoyed a good joke. Through all the ups and downs of life, Larry found something to be happy about every day.

He was a member of the Montana Stockgrowers Association and enjoyed collecting western art. He also served several three-year terms on the Bynum Elementary District school board.

In 2023, with his health declining, Larry moved into the long-term care wing at Benefis Teton Medical Center, where he received outstanding and compassionate care from the staff.

Larry was preceded in death by his beloved wife and partner in life, Anne, who died on March 19, 2022; his brothers, Jim, Bob and Gordon Dellwo; and his sisters, Connie, Margaret and Annetta.

His survivors include his sons, Duke (Velvet) Dellwo and Joe (Dana) Dellwo, both of the family ranch; his four grandchildren, Shane (Kylee) Dellwo and Chase (Becca) Dellwo, both of Choteau, Summer (Brian) Foran of Winifred and Jamie (Sharman) Dellwo of Simms; and eight great-grandchildren.

Frontier Funeral Home of Choteau handled arrangements. Memorials are suggested to St. Joseph's Catholic Church, the Old Trail Museum and Benefis Teton Medical Center, all in Choteau.