Lona Irene Southerland Gharst

Lona Irene (Southerland) Gharst, 82, of Augusta, Montana passed away on August 14, 2023. She was born on October 27, 1940, in Everett, Washington.

Lona worked as a Marion County corrections officer for many years and went on to retire. After she retired, she worked as an outfitter for Guiding Company.

She enjoyed attending Augusta Community Church, horseback riding, spending time with family, and backcountry cooking.

She is survived by her husband, Larry Gharst of Augusta, MT; her daughters, Crystal Arndt of Belgrade, MT and Tami (Bill) Barrett of Spokane, WA; her sons, Robert Keldson of Alaska, Billy Arndt of Mill City, OR, and Shawn Gharst of Spokane, WA; sister, Irene Sansaver; sixteen grandchildren; twenty great-grandchildren; and eight great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Tamara Jean Keldson; father, Gene Southerland; mother, Mary Kearney; adopted mother, Blanche A. Jones; and brothers, Terry Southerland and Dennis Southerland.

There is a memorial fund at the Augusta Community Church for Larry under Lona’s name (219 Laura Street, August, MT 59410). There is also a Venmo account set up to help Larry with upcoming expenses. If you have Venmo, open the app, click search, type in @Larry-Gharst, and click on his account (you can bypass the ph# prompt).