William 'Bill' Karst, 68

William "Bill" Karst, 68, a longtime Sunburst farmer and farm equipment salesman, passed away Tuesday, March 21, 2006, at the Pondera Long Term Care facility in Conrad due to complications from strokes.

Visitation will be from 1 to 8 p.m. Friday, at the Whitted Funeral Chapel in Shelby. His funeral will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 25, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Sunburst, with burial afterward in Sunburst Cemetery.

Condolences may be left for the family at www.whittedfuneralchapel.com.

Survivors include his wife, Harriet, of Sunburst; daughters, Natalie and Jeff Beasley Karst of West Sacramento, Calif., and Teresa Karst of Kalispell; granddaughter, AnnMarie Beasley; sisters, Mary and Steve Stevens of Sunburst, and their children, Jim Lisa and Melody, Betty and Joe DeMartin of Rudyard, and their children, Brian and Barry, and Margy and Rich Johnson of Conrad, and their children, Kurt and Kevin; brothers, Herb and Carol Karst of Sunburst, and their children, Kristin, Kim and Jeff, and John and Val Karst of Great Falls; sister-in-law, Cora and Ron Copenhaver of California, and their daughter, Leza; and mother-in-law and father-in-law, Joseph and Harriet Krall of Conrad.

He was born Jan. 7, 1938, to Joseph and Lucile and (Benjamin) Karst in Shelby. He attended the O'Loughlin Elementary School east of Sunburst and graduated from Sunburst High School in 1954. He then farmed for his father while attending Northern Montana College.

He met his loving wife, Harriet Krall, at a high-school dance in 1957 and they were married Feb. 7, 1959, in Sunburst, where they farmed for the next 10 years.

He worked for and eventually managed the Farmers Co-op in Sunburst. He worked briefly for Northern Telephone and in 1985, began selling farm equipment before retiring in 2000.

During his retirement, he loved working on his yard, his shop projects and traveling extensively with Harriet.

He was a member of the Sunburst Volunteer Fire Department for 25 years and the Toole County Planning Board for 18 years.

Bill will be remembered as a kind and gentle person. Although he worked several jobs, his favorite was selling farm equipment. He was a people person, and selling farm equipment afforded him the opportunity to be around people who shared his love for farming, as he was still a farmer at heart. He also loved children, always having a treat for them when delivering fuel or visiting farms.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Lucile (Benjamin) Karst.