John P. Beason

ARLEE — John P. Beason, 85, joined the ancestors Monday, April 4, 2005, at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.

Born Feb. 12, 1920, in Cleveland County, N.C., to Joseph P. and Dicie (Waters) Beason, he was raised and educated in North Carolina.

He became a private trucker and hauled produce all over the United States, but primarily from Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky until 1960 when he moved to Arlee.

In 1960, he married Emma "Millie" Pierre and they ranched on the family place south of Arlee. Always around livestock, John was an avid outdoorsman and one heck of a horse trader.

He was preceded in death by his siblings, his parents and a wife, Evelyn (Smith) Beason.

Survivors include his wife Millie of Arlee; his children, Helen (Max) Burgess and Linda (Ralph) Norman, all of Henrietta, N.C., Mike (Lynette) Beason of Butte, Kathy Jolly of Forest City, N.C., and Pam Stacey of Atlanta, and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Mass was celebrated April 8 at the Jocko Catholic Church (the church he helped move after the old one caught fire). Interment was in the Jocko Catholic Cemetery.