​Irene Chessmore, 84, of Deer Lodge, joined her husband of 54 years, Robert Chessmore, on Dec. 16. Irene lived in Deer Lodge her entire life; she married Robert on June 3, 1961. Together they had two beautiful daughters.
Irene was a very kind, gentle, caring soul who always put her family first. She was very proud of her grand kids and had so much love for them. Irene worked at the DMV Office for more than 30 years. She enjoyed riding horses, her cats and watching her girls grow into the women they are today. Irene loved to camp as a family, spending summers at Browns Lake.
She has always been part of the Deer Lodge community and has loved living her life in the valley. Irene passed peacefully with family by her side, leaving an empty spot in our hearts - she will be dearly missed.
She was preceded in death by the love of her life and partner in crime, Robert Chessmore.
She is survived by daughters Debbie (Steve) and Sandy (Tim). Grandchildren include Shane, Jamie, Bud, Duncan (Meghan), Konrad (Morgan) and many great-grandchildren. Other family includes Kathy (Glen) Chaffy, Kym Chessmore Brown and David Chessmore.
In lieu of cards and flowers, please send donations to PAWHS or your local humane society. There will be a private service held for immediate family.

Charles William Granger, 81, died peacefully at home in Deer Lodge, on Dec. 13, 2023. No services are planned at this time.
Please visit axelsonfuneralhome.com to leave condolences or share a memory of Charles.

Vern William Pomeroy, 83, died in Anaconda on Dec. 10. He fought a long, hard battle with serious health issues beginning in the 1990s. He loved life and all things associated with his family and the mountains of Montana.
In 1958 Vern graduated from Powell County High School in Deer Lodge. From there he proudly entered the Marine Corps and was stationed in San Diego. Upon his honorable discharge in 1964, he returned to Deer Lodge and worked at the post office as well as a couple other jobs. Vern fathered four children in Deer Lodge: Greg, Glen, Jack and Grace, while married to his first wife. He then moved to Spokane to begin a career in radio sales and advertising, which eventually took him to Ft. Worth, Texas, where in addition to sales he managed a country western dance club. He returned to Spokane in the mid 70s. He met his wife, Shelley, in 1984, married and became a stepfather to Jason Sorini.
His work transferred him back to Montana in 1985. Vern was also the family genealogist for over 35 years. It was his passion, and he loved sharing family history and Montana history.
Vern was preceded in death by his parents, Bill and Venita Pomeroy; infant brother, Wayne; and his older brother, Phil Pomeroy.
He is survived by his children, Greg (Monica), Glen (Cathy), Jack and Grace Pomeroy; Foster and stepson Jason Sorini; numerous grandchildren; great grandchildren; and nieces and nephews. Surviving siblings include Lorraine (John) Watson, Bill Pomeroy, Lorlyn Joy and Judi Whitney.
Vern chose not to have a memorial service, instead wanted a quiet gathering of family to scatter his ashes at his hunting camp in the mountains. This will take place at a later date.
Rest well dear, sweet husband knowing you were loved by many. I will meet you again in Heaven one day.
Please visit axelsonfuneralhome.com to leave a condolence or share a memory of Vern.

Chely Nettie Brubaker, 72, of Polson, unexpectedly passed away on Dec. 7, 2023.
Chely was born on Oct. 30, 1951, to Harry and Nettie Brost in Terry, Mont. She spent a happy childhood living with her sister, Lola, and parents above the family business, Brost Clothing. Lola was Chely’s best friend, and they still spoke daily.
Chely attended Terry High School, graduating in 1969. She was a great student and excelled at athletics, especially softball, and track and field – she was disappointed to have barely missed the opportunity to play basketball, which became available as a girls’ team sport shortly after she graduated (and, according to her husband, “she would have been a stud.”). Highlights included sharing the AAU state record for the 440 relay with her teammates and winning the 440-yard dash at state.
Chely also met the love of her life at school. Chely and Ed “Eddie” Brubaker met during first grade and started dating during her senior year. She and Ed married in 1970, and soon thereafter started a family – first daughter, Tori, and then son, Lane. The young family made their home on two different ranches in Terry: the Knuths Ranch, and then the Lund Ranch, where Ed was the ranch manager. Chely loved ranch life and was sad to leave when the family made the move to Deer Lodge after purchasing a feed store, but she quickly made lifelong friends and great memories running the store, raising her kids, and playing softball and golf.
After 10 years in Deer Lodge, Ed and Chely moved to Washington: First to Othello, and then Monroe, before returning to Montana and settling in Miles City, Stevensville, and finally, upon her retirement after 18 years with Wal-Mart, to Polson, so she could follow her grandsons around and enjoy time on Flathead Lake. She loved living so close to Tori and her family, and treasured visits to Lane and his family, first in Helena, and then in Oregon.
Chely was a lifelong sports fan, and happily cheered on Tori and Lane, and then her grandsons, Tai and Noah, in their various sporting endeavors. She was an avid fan of the MSU Bobcats and the Seattle Mariners and enjoyed attending games with friends and family.
Above all, Chely was kind, and generous and open-hearted and will be greatly missed by all who were lucky enough to know her.
Chely was preceded in death by her parents, Harry and Nettie Brost; brother-in-law, Dick Hess; sister-in-law Carol Larsen; and brother-in-law Gary Larsen.
Chely is survived by her husband, Ed, Polson; daughter, Tori (Klint), Polson; son, Lane (Jessica), Monmouth, Ore.; grandsons, Tai, Butte, and Noah, Bozeman; sister, Lola Hess, Billings; brother-in-law, Albert J. (Dixie) Brubaker, Columbus; and many loving cousins, nieces, nephews.
A service will be held at 1 p.m. on Dec. 21 at the Terry Community Presbyterian Church, 317 Logan Avenue, Terry, Mont. Messages of condolences may be shared with the family online at www.lakefuneralhomeandcremation.com. Arrangements are under the care of The Lake Funeral Home and Crematory.

​Daniel (Danny) Rodriguez, 32, from Hall, Mont., unexpectedly passed away in Deer Lodge on Nov. 25.
Danny was born in Missoula on Sept. 15, 1991, to Susan and David Rodriguez. He attended Hall School, Drummond High School and graduated from Poplar Springs in Florida in 2010. He went to Washington Holmes Technical College in Chipley, Fla. and then attended Nashville Auto Diesel College in Nashville, Tenn.
Danny’s love of cars started early in life. When he was 5 years old, his dad gave him tools and told him to take apart a car he gave him, and within a few months he had everything except for the engine and transmission taken off of it. At 10 years old, he took three old broken snowmobiles and turned them into one that worked. This was the beginning of his lifelong love of fixing any and all vehicles.
Danny moved to Gillette, Wyo., in his early 20s and worked at Cowboy Up, an Auto Diesel Mechanic Shop. It was in Wyoming where he became a loving father to his daughter Ophelia. Later he moved back to Montana and found a job at Old Stage Auto. This was where his second daughter Kylah was born. He left Old Stage Auto to start his own mobile mechanic business, which he ran until his passing.
Danny was always sociable and outgoing. He would drop anything to help anyone at any time. He loved hunting, fishing and doing anything outdoors. The space left empty with his passing will leave a huge hole in his community and especially in his family.
Danny is survived by his two daughters, Ophelia and Kylah; his parents: Susan and David; his siblings, David Jr., Sarah, Josh, Elysia, Olivia, Kayla, Angel and Nick.
His public memorial service was held Dec. 10 in Drummond.

Phyllis Ohrmann, 100, of Drummond, passed away in the early morning hours of Nov. 4, 2023, at Granite County Medical Center Long Term Care. She was one of the last of her generation to grace the Flint Creek Valley, those women whose steady presence and commitment to the next generation shaped and enriched so many lives.
Phyllis was born on a snowy day, Feb. 16, 1923, to Lyle and Virgil Sliter in a farmhouse near Hewitt, Minn. The doctor travelled by horse-drawn sleigh to deliver her, put his horse up in the barn and stayed until the blizzard was over and Phyll was born. She joined brother Bob and grew up in a fun-loving family surrounded by cousins and friends in a close-knit farming community. Growing up on a farm during the depression instilled a quiet strength, self-reliance and sense of humor that served her (and many like her) well the rest of her life.
Following graduation from Wadena High School, Phyll attended Moorhead State Teachers College, then taught at various country schools in Central Minnesota, often boarding with nearby families. One night after walking home in the snow, she discovered her suitcase sitting at the end of their long driveway with a note attached. Her host family had diphtheria and she would need to find different lodgings. Phyll trudged through the snow for three miles on an unplowed road until she came to the home of a cousin who took her in.
Summers were often spent travelling. Phyll made butter at a factory in Wisconsin to aid the war effort, travelled by train to Washington, D.C., one summer and to the West Coast another. One summer she stayed with a cousin in Spokane and worked as a waitress. It was here that she met her future husband, Bill Ohrmann, who was visiting family while on leave from the Army Air Corps.
The two married in 1948 and settled into life on an Angus ranch near Drummond. Her new home lacked indoor plumbing, and she cooked on a woodstove but had no complaints. Phyll taught first grade at Drummond for 3 years until starting a family (Susan, Jane, and John). Her children’s lives were full of outdoor play, books, music, nature and animals.
Mom accomplished much but made it look easy: caring for several generations of family, working on the ranch, doing the bookwork for their operation and area bull sales, growing a spectacular flower and vegetable garden, canning and freezing, sewing clothes for her daughters late into the night, community involvement - PTA, 4-H, Hall Methodist Women, playing the piano for Sunday School, Cattlewomen, library board, book club. Her delicious meals, hospitality and meaningful conversations around the kitchen table are favorite memories of relatives and friends. She made everyone feel welcome.
Phyll’s support of Bill’s art enabled him to pursue his dreams. She helped ready the art for shows, set up displays, fed countless guests and designed the Ohrmann Museum and Gallery that holds the Ohrmann paintings and sculptures. Phyll’s hard work behind the scenes gave Bill time to create.
After Bill passed in 2014 Phyll continued to run the gallery and greet visitors, staying active, reading mysteries (including all of Agatha Christie’s books at age 99) and writing thoughtful letters.
Phyllis is preceded in death by her husband, Bill; parents Lyle and Virgil; brother, Bob Sliter; and daughter Jane Hultman. She is survived by daughter Susan (Randy) Peterson of Drummond; son John (Myrlin) of Drummond; grandchildren Callie (Peter) Klempay of Stafford, Va., Ty Hultman of Drummond; and great-grand children Joey Klempay, Reagan Klempay, Hanna Hultman and Haylee Hultman, along with beloved nieces, nephews and friends.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests making a donation in Phyll’s name to Friends of the Drummond Library (PO Box 266, Drummond, MT 59832) or Granite Spay Neuter Project (82 Mile High Trail, Hall, MT 59837). No services are planned, but in Mom’s memory be kind to a person or animal, read a good book, feed the birds.
As Mom would say, the list goes on.

​Daniel (Danny) Thomas Rodriguez, 32, of Hall died Nov. 25.
His memorial service is set for 1 p.m. on Dec. 10 at the Drummond Community Center.