Joseph
G. Gottfried, 88, of
Shelby , passed away June 3, 2008 at Marias
Medical Center in Shelby due to natural causes.
Visitation will be
1-8 p.m., Sunday with a Rosary at
7 p.m. at Whitted Funeral Chapel in Shelby .
Funeral Mass will be
11 a.m., Monday at St. William Catholic Church in Shelby with a
luncheon to follow. Burial with military honors will
follow the luncheon in Sunburst Cemetery . Condolences
may be sent to the family at
www.whittedfuneralchapel.com
Survivors include his wife Irene Gottfried of Shelby; his children, Peggy (Dean) Rosera of Kettle River, MN, Diana Hoffa of Sweet Grass, Dennis (Sophie) Gottfried of Sweet Grass, Kathy Johnson of Baltimore, MD and Adam (Robin) Gottfried of Ronan; his siblings, Cecelia Neidhardt of Deer Lodge, Catherine Halvorson of Valier, Addy Boltz of Valdez, AK, Fritz (Tootie) Gottfried of Maple Valley, WA, Eileen (Ralph) Wartchow of Lyman, WA, Evelyn Wolfer of McMinnville, OR, Eddie (Lee Ann) Gottfried of St. Ignatius and a sister-in-law, Midge Gottfried of Hot Springs; as well as his step-children, Rexetta (Charles) Mueller of Helena, Calvin (Patricia) Spangler of Shepherd and Frank (Wanda) Spangler of Helena. He is also survived by 16 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Joe was born April 21, 1920 to Adam and Elizabeth (Wolanski) Gottfried in Courtenay , ND . When he was six, the family moved to the family farm in Toole County . He married Marjorie Ann McDonnell on Jan. 14, 1942 in Coeur d’Alene, ID and shortly afterwards joined the Army Air Force. After his discharge following the war in 1945, he finished his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Montana in Missoula , graduating in 1947. He worked in Ronan for a time before moving to Sunburst for a year or two and then to the family farm in 1951. Marjorie passed away Jan. 11, 1982.
He married Irene Spangler on Nov. 17, 1984. They resided in Shelby and Joe continued to help on the farm well into his 80’s.
Joe was involved in a number of civic and community organizations including, the Knights of Columbus, VFW and American Legion, which he served as commander, the Sunburst and Sweet Grass School Boards, was a current board member of the Shelby Senior Center, and served as a Toole County Commissioner. He was also involved with the Young Democrats, State Education Committee, the DNRC, the R.C. & D, the Alcohol Treatment Center Board, was the Fiscal Officer for MACO, and served on the NETA board. He was governor appointed to the Juvenile Justice Board and the Board of Crime Control and Jail Standards. He also served as secretary of the Coal, Oil and Gas Producing Counties , was a representative for Montana Small Business Loans and served as Montana ’s lone representative to Washington D.C. for the Montana Coal Tax Bill.
He enjoyed stamp collecting and poetry. Joe loved books and was an avid reader as well. He was also famous for assigning nicknames to his family.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Marjorie; and siblings, Marian Turner, Lawrence Gottfried and Jimmy Gottfried.