Berta M Babcock

Berta May (Barr) Babcock, 87, long time resident of the Cut Bank, Montana community, passed away August 2, 2016 in Great Falls Montana.  She had been residing near her daughters, in Great Falls since March 2016.

Berta was born in Barstow, Texas October 16, 1928 to Daniel Bert and Lula Mae (Stark) Barr.  She was one of eight children.  At a young age, Berta, our Yellow Rose of Texas, and family moved to California where she grew up.  She married Walter E. Babcock, October 27, 1950, in Union Gap, WA, moving to Montana in 1951 and to the Cut Bank area in 1959.  Two daughters, Joyce Kay (Hoyt) and Donna Faye (McFarland) were born of this union.

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, Berta was a selfless, caring, and compassionate woman who loved to do things for other people, without drawing attention to herself.   Independent, and strong, she was also fun loving, young at heart, and witty.

Berta worked hard her whole life.  Growing up during the Great Depression, she picked cotton as a child in Texas, grapes in California, and hops, peaches and apples in Washington.  Later she cooked for harvest crews on a large wheat farm, and most recently was a vital staff member for the Parkview Senior Center in Cut Bank.  She was honored as Senior Citizen of the Year.

Her hobbies included crafts of all kinds.  She created beautiful gifts for family and friends.  She will be fondly remembered for the knitted dish cloths she gave to special people in her life.  Berta, a member of the First Baptist Church of Cut Bank, enjoyed singing and listening to gospel music.  She also enjoyed country music and had a beautiful voice.  A highlight in her life was meeting country western entertainer Charlie Pride.  She was an avid bowler on the Housewives League, garnering many trophies for her team, The Can Openers.  She loved extra crispy bacon and coconut macaroons and collecting McDonald’s Happy Meal toys.  Berta had an extensive collection of elephant figurines from around the world.  In fact, as a child, her school raised money to purchase a baby elephant for a local zoo.  During WWII, Berta and her classmates collected scrap material used to fund and build four jeeps for our troops.

She was pre-deceased by her siblings, and her husband of 60 years.  In addition to her daughters and beloved son-in-laws Danny Hoyt and David McFarland, Berta is survived by 5 grandchildren:  Scott Hoyt, Donna (Hoyt) Fairbanks, Tiffany (Hoyt) Long, Joel McFarland, and Shane McFarland, and 10 great-grandchildren.

Celebration of Life Services are pending, to be announced at a later date.