Robert Stromswold

Pendroy rancher and farmer Robert Owen Stromswold (94) died Nov. 20 at Teton Nursing Home of natural causes. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on July 11, 2012 at the Pendroy Methodist Church in Pendroy, MT. Interment of his cremated remains will be in the Choteau Cemetery.



Robert was born Dec. 5, l916 on the family farm near Mohall, North Dakota. In l939 he graduated from Minot State Normal School with a Bachelor of Arts degree in science and math education; after graduation he taught school in North Dakota for a year. In 1940 he accepted a teaching position at the high school in Savage, Montana; there he met Jean Larson of Pendroy, and they were married in l942. After their wedding, Robert taught two years at Teton County High School in Choteau before he and Jean moved to the farm north of Pendroy. Robert and Jean lived on the farm until Jean's death in l996. They had two daughters- DeAnne, who died in l945, and Janice Carter who now lives with her husband, Steve, in Arizona.



Bob and Jean farmed and ranched for years. In the mid-seventies they retired and spent some of the winter in Tucson, Arizona, and part of their summers at a cabin on Swan Lake.



Bob was an antique car enthusiast and a member of the American Horseless Carriage Club. He was never happier than being in his shop working on a vehicle or piece of machinery. His interest expanded to tractors, and he was a founding member of the Teton County Steam and Gas Association.



Bob was a member of the Pendroy United Methodist Church and sang in the church choir. During the years Bob lived at Skyline Lodge and the nursing home, he became interested again in playing his mandolin and a few other instruments. Wherever there was a tune playing, there was Bob. But most will remember him for his very practical manner and his dry sense of humor.



Robert and Jean worked with Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch collecting cattle donations and donating a calf of their own every year; after Jean's death, Robert established the Robert and Jean Stromswold Family Fund with the Montana Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.



Survivors include his daughter, Janice, his grandson, Michael Carter (wife Rachel) of Northridge, CA, twin great-grandbabies, Robert and Charles, and several nieces and nephews. Robert was preceded in death by an infant daughter, his wife, Jean, and three brothers.



Memorials are suggested either to the Pendroy Methodist Church, Teton Nursing Home, Skyline Lodge, the Montana Multiple Sclerosis Society, or a charity of the donor's choice. A memorial service is planned for a later date.