Dorothy Dean Rinker Johnson Newman, 87
Dorothy Dean Rinker Johnson Newman, 87, a former Whitefish resident, passed away Dec. 23, 2006, at a nursing home in Sidney of natural causes. She was born Dec. 14, 1919, in Minot, N.D., the daughter of Amos and Jennie Rinker. Dorothy was raised and graduated from Minot Model High School and then worked for various farms in the area.
She met and married Lloyd A. "Slim" Johnson on Jan. 24, 1942, in Wolf Point. At this time a son, Norman, and a daughter, Wanda, were born. The family then relocated to Williston, N.D., where the couple divorced in 1960.
Dorothy and the children then moved to Martin City; after the completion of a training course at the Kalispell Business College she went to work for the Canyon Logging Company and FK and L Lumber Mill in Martin City.
Dorothy and friend Betty Kartheiser traveled extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada. While on one of the adventures, the two friends were caught on film at the Radium Hot Springs, and that shot was published in the July 1966 issue of National Geographic.
Dorothy learned to fly-fish, which she enjoyed immensely. She also enjoyed hiking, picking huckleberries, gardening and hunting for meat. While acting as a cook in Russ Baeth's hunting camp she also, in her off time, took an elk, a black bear and a whitetail buck. The Hungry Horse News ran a picture and story of her hunting prowess. The headline read "Modern Day Diana."
Dorothy learned many of her outdoor skills from her father, Amos. And father and daughter often fished together.
Dorothy went to work for the Anaconda Aluminum Company in Columbia Falls, as a receptionist and a printer operator. It was at that time she met and married James Newman. The couple enjoyed traveling and enjoyed life until Jim had a debilitating stroke. Dorothy took early retirement to care for him until he passed away in Lewistown.
Dorothy had a beautiful home on South Hilltop Road in Columbia Falls that she worked on so diligently to maintain and improve. She had various fruit trees including apple, apricot, cherry, pear and plum, as well as large strawberry and raspberry patches and a vegetable garden. She loved to plant trees and flowers, mow the lawn and maintain her various gardens. She later sold her property and moved to McMinnville, Ore. She then later moved to a condo in Lewistown.
Ill health forced Dorothy to eastern Montana. First she lived with her daughter, Wanda, in Fairview and then the Savage Sunrise Manor, and finally after a stroke she moved to the Sidney Health Center Extended Care in July 2005. After a massive stroke, she passed on Dec. 23.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Amos and Jennie Rinker; sister, Delores Ritter; a half-brother, Charlie Rinker; maternal grandmother, Jennie Stepp; uncle, Bob Mills; and granddaughter, Joleen Johnson.
She is survived by a son, Norman Johnson, and wife, Emily Peck, in Polson, and their children, Teresa Malzer, in Grovetown, Calif., Jacey Johnson and her son, Connor McGee, in Boise, Idaho, and Alicia Cunnings and her children, Makayla and Noah. She also is survived by a daughter, Wanda Miller, and her children, Beth Purcell in Kent, Wash., and Lisa Miller in Auburn, Wash.; and grandchildren Sari and Charlotte.
Viewing will be from 1 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, at Austin Funeral Home in Whitefish. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 29, at the funeral home chapel, with the Rev. David V. Kauffman officiating. Interment will be afterward at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Columbia Falls.