Allan Wang

Interment with military honors and graveside service for Allan Wang, 90, of Baker will be 1:00 pm Friday, August 5 at St. John's Cemetery.

Dad (Allan) passed away peacefully in his recliner on the evening of January 22, 2022, at 90 years of age. We sincerely thank the staffs at Superior Care and the FMC nursing home for keeping him safe and comfortable these last four years following his hip injury.

Born October 28, 1931, he grew up during the Great Depression and WWII. He was the youngest of six siblings (Vic, Alma, Edna, Lee Roy “Doc,” and Dulane “Pete”) who grew up south of Ollie, Montana in the original homestead shack. He attended school in Ollie, until the high school closed his sophomore year, and graduated from Baker High School. He loved playing basketball and baseball, including on Ollie’s community baseball team that travelled to other area towns to play. Allan attended MSU and some graduate school at SDSU.

He proudly served in the US Army from 1953-1956.

Allan was an MSU extension agent in Thompson Falls, Montana, where he met Ruth Harlow who was his secretary – highly qualified and accomplished in her own right. They married in 1958, moved to Ollie, and started a life-long partnership in farming, ranching, and other ventures that lasted until Mom’s death in May of 2016. They were excellent stockmen and had great compassion for the land and for animals.

I (Dean) was born in 1967.

Moving from Ollie to Baker in 1969, they built and ran the pellet mill, “Wang Feeds,” for 20 years. Discussing the virtues of cottonseed cake was one of Dad’s favorite topics.

They lived at the same address their entire lives, finally building a garage in recent years.

They weren’t much on hunting or recreating but they took me skiing, hunting, and fishing a few times, and never missed one of my activities or sporting events. To their credit, they never once asked me, “What the hell are you thinking?!” when I walked away from a football scholarship to rodeo. They weren’t rodeo folks but whole heartedly supported me, often hauling horses for us.
Dad flew us to a few rodeos. He loved that. Thank you to the rodeo folks who took the time to visit with him. He so enjoyed those friendships, even Schall.

One of Dad’s greatest loves was flying, having gotten his pilot’s license in the mid-1970s, and flying airplanes and helicopters for 40 years. I hope that he and Jack Bethel are currently talking shop.

He loved golf. He’d play early in the mornings when it was cool and still. He and many other volunteers built the current club house at the golf course. He often scolded me for getting too close with the hand push rototiller to the young bushes that now line the west side of Fairway #1. As a disgruntled teenager, I didn’t care if they all died.

He loved playing cards - poker, whist, solo, pinochle, and more.

Mom and Dad ventured into the banking business in 1988 - difficult times indeed.

Their ultimate passion was the grand kids, Lauren, Paul, Jacob, and Katie. They loved them very much, and tried never to miss an activity, even when they shouldn’t have been traveling. Neither of them could see or hear at that point but there they’d be, sitting in the bleachers, at some remote eastern Montana location. G Pa always had the skating rink cleaned off.

They were very civic minded, and always stressed to their family to be kind and polite.

Dad was very staunch in his opinion that funerals are a huge inconvenience for those attending and putting them on. He would rather that you spend time with your loved ones than attend his funeral. Per his wishes, we will have a graveside service sometime this summer. Should you choose, please contribute to the worthy cause of your choice.

We love you, Dad. Godspeed.

Allan is survived by son, Dean (Karen) Wang; grandchildren, Lauren (Kade) Huber, Paul Wang, Jacob Wang, and Katie Wang; great granddaughter, Hadlee Huber; brother-in-law, Art (Mary) Harlow; sister-in-law, Anna Mae Wang; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Allan was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth (Harlow) Wang; sisters Alma (Berg) Thoemke, Edna (Berg) Plummer; and brothers, Victor Berg, Lee Roy Wang and Dulane Wang.