Kenneth Speelmon

Mass of Christian Burial for Kenneth ?Kenny? Speelmon, 89 , of Ekalaka will be 2:00 p. m. Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Ekalaka, MT. Rite of Committal will follow at Beaver Lodge Cemetery with Military Rites presented by American Legion and VFW Posts of Ekalaka and the Montana Army National Guard Honor Guard. Visitation will take place from 6:00 p. m. to 9:00 p. m. Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at Stevenson Funeral Home in Ekalaka, with a Rosary and Vigil service taking place at 7:00 p. m. Visitation will continue Wednesday, from 9:00 am to 1:00 p. m. at Stevenson Funeral Home. Kenny passed away Sunday, March 25, 2012 at Dahl Memorial Nursing Home, Ekalaka, MT. Kenneth Ray ?Kenny? Speelmon, the third son of James Sterling and Etna (Figg) Speelmon, was born August 19, 1922 at the home ranch on Russell Creek south of Ekalaka. His brothers are Moreau, Wayne and Sandy and his sisters are Patty and Lola. He attended school in the Ekalaka area and graduated from Carter County High School in 1940. As a teenager Kenny, who was a very good horseman, began working with local men trailing herds of cattle to Marmarth, ND to be shipped to market. Usually it took about a week to trail a herd of 200 or 300 head of cattle to Marmarth with another week for the train trip to Sioux City and return home. In 1944 Kenny joined the Navy, taking his training in Farragut, ID. He then went to diesel school at the University of Iowa at Ames, IA. The rest of his enlistment time was spent on a LCI landing craft in the South Pacific. After two years in the service Kenny was discharged and returned to Montana where he spent time working for the BLM doing dirt work and building corrals. Kenny married Harriet Nies May 25, 1947. They made their first home south of Ekalaka on the old Speelmon place and in 1958 they purchased and moved to the Gene Turbiville ranch near Mill Iron where they continued to raise cattle and went into the sheep business on a larger scale. Kenny felt it important that his children learn responsibility and he began that education by making sure each of them had the opportunity to own and train horses, cattle, pigs and sheep. By working side by side with his children on the ranch, whether it be working with livestock or running equipment, Kenny instilled in them a strong work ethic that each carried into their adult lives. Kenny and his grandson, Michael, were baptized by Fr. Patrick Berther into the Catholic Church at St. Ann?s at Mill Iron in the spring of 1988. Kenny and Harriet had fourteen children: Mary (Dean Tarter), Paula, Frankie, Dan (Joyce Folkestead), Theresa (Mike Collins), Kris (Tom Brophy), John (Jean Schell), Sally (Bob Young), Jackie (Mark Lockwood), Ken, Jim, Tom, Caralea (Dave Leidholt) and Amy (Rick Wallace). Their doors were always open to extra kids: Terry Moolick, Willis Kelly, Richard Burch, Mark Gundlach, and Gilbert Speelman. Because of health issues and muddy roads, Kenny and Harriet moved into Ekalaka in March 2010. The past six months Kenny and Harriet have spent time in Billings, Laurel and Miles City. Kenny was admitted into the Dahl Memorial Healthcare and Nursing Home on March 12, 2012. He passed away on March 25, 2012. Kenny is survived by Harriet, his wife of 64 years, twelve of his 14 children, his brother, Sandy, and sisters, Lola Rice and Patty Hendricks, 52 grandchildren and great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Kenny was preceded in death by his daughter Frankie and son, Dan, as well as a daughter-in-law, Heidi. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to either Dahl Memorial Nursing Home or the Beaver Lodge Cemetery.


Click to View Program (PDF)


Burial Date: March 28, 2012
Funeral Home Ekalaka, MT

Funeral Mass: Wednesday, St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Ekalaka, MT