The Obit Project

<p><a href="https://montanahistoriclandscape.com/2013/12/01/the-dagmar-colony-in-sheridan-county/">Dagmar, Montana</a>, is way up there in what&rsquo;s almost Canada and almost North Dakota. She was very Danish and had a rebellious youth &ndash; at one point, she was kind of a Communist. Mostly, she was the town where the farmers came to buy groceries, go to church and pull up to the bar. But over time, those institutions closed or burned down. If a newspaper ran her obit, Megan Torgerson would

<p>When <a href="https://www.gardencityfh.com/obituaries/bea-beulah-burnham">Bea Burnham</a> walked up to her house one day, she saw her husband of 30-plus years lying dead in the lawn. That stopped her world from spinning for a while, but she pulled herself up, fixed what needed to be fixed and got on with life, eventually outliving three more husbands. She worked hard and taught her daughters about women&rsquo;s rights. She took care of her friends in their grief. She was buried in her fur coa

<p><a href="https://helenafuneralhome.com/obituaries/clifford-p-marion-age-64-of-helena/">Clifford Marion</a> was a jokester and a lover of card games and gambling. He was a force where he worked for a decade at the Town Pump. And then he got sick. At the end, surrounded by his family, it was his wife who had to make the decision about when to let go, a moment at the heart of this story.</p> <p>Reported and narrated by Sophia Marsolek, current student at UM Journalism.</p><p>See <a href="https:/

<p><a href="https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/missoulian/name/wayne-boyes-obituary?id=36093289">Wayne Boyes</a> was the de facto mayor of the unincorporated town of Tarkio off Interstate 90, though he&rsquo;d never want that title. He was too busy with his cows. Wayne was born in Tarkio, he married his neighbor, and he died on his land with a list of chores. His family picked up that list in his honor and because some chores just need to get done. It&rsquo;s what Wayne would have wanted.</p>

<p>A lot of people in Billings, Montana, knew <a href="https://www.smithfuneralchapels.com/obituaries/Stanley-James-Littleboy?obId=30858849">Stanley Littleboy</a> by sight. He was that homeless guy with the great face you&rsquo;d see downtown or in South Park. But he had people who loved him. His kids and grandkids in Billings tried to give him options, including a roof over his head. Stanley said no. He preferred his lifestyle, even though it ended when his body was found frozen near the railro

<p><a href="https://www.gardencityfh.com/obituaries/darrel-johnson">Darrel Johnson</a> was someone people thought they knew. Maybe they worked alongside him at a high school dance. Maybe they knew him from Boy Scouts or through the camp he ran for troubled boys. His son knew his dad was also involved in some grisly investigations because Darrel would develop crime-scene photos in the family bathroom. Darrel&rsquo;s job and personality were darker than most knew and time has allowed for honest, n

<p>When she was in high school, Lotus Porte-Moyel interviewed her neighbor, Ellen Baumler, about being a successful woman. Ellen&rsquo;s success was measured in history books &ndash; she wrote 13 of them about the people and places of Montana and was <em>the</em> historian when it came to its capital city of Helena. But really? She was possibly best known for her good work on ghosts and Montana&rsquo;s many spooky spots.</p> <p>Reported and narrated by Lotus Porte-Moyel, current student at UM Jo

<p>In 1965, Montanan pilot Dean Pogreba pulled up into the clouds over North Vietnam and was never heard from again. That left his wife and kids to always wonder: Was he still out there? Over the years, a few clues and stories gave his family hope. Maxine Pogreba lived her own full life before and after her husband died, but without someone to bury, she had to find her own path of grief and memory.</p> <p>Reported and narrated by Charles Bolte, alum of UM Journalism&rsquo;s graduate program.</p>