Margaret A. Strand Taylor, 92
Margaret A. Strand Taylor passed away peacefully in her sleep of natural causes on June 28, 2005, in Merced, Calif.
She was born in Miland, Minn., on July 20, 1913, to Tilla Running Strand and Hans Strand.
Margaret is survived by her sons, Wesley Moran and wife, Clara, of Pasco, Wash.; Monte Moran, of Welches, Ore.; Doug Moran and wife, Donna, of Missoula; George Taylor and wife, Janice, of Farmington, N.M.; Lee Taylor and wife, Mary, of Atwater, Calif.; and Dave Taylor and wife, Charlotte, of Whitefish; as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank Lee Taylor; son, Billy Taylor; and brothers, Clifford Strand, Bud Strand and Harry Strand.
Margaret's parents were Norwegian immigrants who came to the United States as children. They met and married in Minnesota, where they operated a farm. When Margaret was 3 years old, they were granted a homestead 30 miles south of Malta. They loaded all of their belongings, livestock and family on the train and arrived in Malta, where they hitched up their team of oxen and hauled everything they owned to their homestead.
They built a sod house and lived in it until a neighbor's frame house became available. They moved the house in pieces to their property and reassembled it.
Margaret and her brothers went to school in a one-room schoolhouse that was on skids and was moved to the most convenient location for the majority of the students. The Strand kids rode to school on horses or on a stone boat pulled by horses.
Margaret went to high school in Malta. In order to do that she worked at a dairy delivering milk and cream before school for her room and board.
Margaret was a cook for many years. She cooked at a restaurant in Fort Peck during the construction of the dam and for numerous ranches in Montana - the Matador in Malta, and the 66 Ranch and Spokane Ranch in the Big Hole area to name a few. She continued to enjoy cooking all of her life and would often bake banana bread for friends and family when she was in her 90s.
Margaret married Frank Taylor in Malta. They moved to Camp 9 in Babb, where he was an operating engineer on the Milk River Project for the Bureau of Reclamation.
In 1956, they moved to Columbia Falls and purchased a home on Rogers Road. Margaret lived in that home until January 2005.
Margaret enjoyed country music and particularly fiddle music. She loved to dance and did so on a regular basis well into her 80s. She liked to tell jokes and go out for Chinese food. She kept her sense of humor all of her life. She also read and watched the news and did crossword puzzles to keep her mind sharp. She loved birds and animals. She could still ride a horse at 85 and cross-country ski. She was always up for an adventure.
She is truly missed by her friends and family. She was blessed with good health and a long life. She was a real cowgirl and Montana pioneer.
There will be a memorial service to honor Margaret at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Columbia Falls at noon on Saturday, Sept. 10, with a luncheon to follow at the home of Dave and Charlotte Taylor at 1090 Hodgson Road.