Marian Converse

Marian (Jeffery) Converse passed away on May 25, 2023.  She was 97.  Marian was born July 31, 1925, on the family ranch 20 miles north of Denton, Montana to Clyde and Zadie Jeffery. She loved the outdoors and spent many hours riding horseback in the Judith River breaks. She graduated as a salutatorian from Denton High School in 1944.

Shortly after high school graduation, with the start of WWII, she was trained in Billings to use a teletype machine and rode the train to Portland, Oregon where she and other young women worked to support war communications. After World War II, Marian returned to Montana and spent a year on a scholarship in Missoula attending the university studying kinesiology. In 1947, while working at an implement dealership in Denton, she met and married Gene Converse. Their son, Jeff was born in Lewistown in 1949. Following Gene’s family, they moved to the Fairfield Bench in 1950 where they lived and raised their family. Marian enjoyed going on horse packing trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, camping, fishing, traveling, and attending sporting events. She was blessed with a group of lifelong friends in Fairfield who played cards together weekly for over 50 years. Marian was an exceptional cook and baked many dozens of cookies in her lifetime. She loved any kind of family get-together and especially those with the grandchildren.

Marian is survived by her son, Jeff (Vickie) Converse and daughters, Callie (Mike) Peters and Tani (Joe) Campbell; 10 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Gene; and her 9 siblings.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 3, 2023, in Fairfield. The graveside ceremony will be at 1:00 p.m. at the Sunset Hills Cemetery. A memorial service and luncheon will be at 2:00. p.m. at the United Church of Christ.