Connie Joyce McCarthy DeYott — October 7, 1937 - October 27, 2025

    Connie Joyce McCarthy DeYott reunited with the love of her life and five of her babies on Oct. 27. She passed away in Deer Lodge, just days after celebrating her 88th birthday. While we’re sure her reunion in Heaven is a joyful one, it leaves behind a gaping hole here on earth.
    Connie was born a coal miner’s daughter - perhaps explaining her lifelong love of 1950s country music - on Oct. 7, 1937, in Heber City, Utah. She lost her father when she was nine and her mother at 15. Those early losses led her to Butte, where she lived with her older brother Jerry. It was there that she met the love of her life, Donald Edward DeYott.
    Connie and Don married in July 1955 in Butte and moved to Deer Lodge in 1960. Their marriage began with heartbreak as they lost their first three babies, but they were later blessed - “and blessed” is surely the word they would use - with eight surviving children: five girls and three boys, all born within 15 busy years.
    Connie loved her years in Butte and was deeply involved in the lives of her nieces and nephews - relationships she cherished throughout her life. Family gatherings always included them, because to her, family was anyone you loved. Many trips were made back to Butte to visit, and all but one of her babies were born there.
    Once her children were old enough for school, Connie began working as a waitress and cook in local cafés. In 1979, she joined the Montana State Prison kitchen, where she worked for 20 years. She ran a tight ship and was known for her quick wit and no-nonsense attitude - one officer swore he’d paid enough into her “swear jar” to buy a car! Sometimes she even forgot she’d fed her husband at work, only for him to come home to the same dinner he’d had for lunch.
    Connie and Don were active members of the Deer Lodge community. Together, they co-chaired Ducks Unlimited, hosted Friday dinners at the Elks Lodge and were always ready to help at community gatherings. Connie volunteered with the Woman’s Club and managed the New To You store, leading its move to a larger Main Street location. She did it all - negotiating the lease, cleaning, painting, organizing - and recruited prison work crews, Mormon missionaries, her kids and the Woman’s Club volunteers to help. Her leadership helped the store thrive and expand its donations to local causes, including the Rialto Theatre, the Senior Citizens Center, the EMT service and local scholarships.
    Family was everything to Connie. Every gathering was a big one - full of food, laughter and love. Her Thanksgiving dinners were legendary: the living room packed to the brim with family and friends, and tables overflowing with her wonderful cooking. And as if their house wasn’t already full enough, Don and Connie always found room for more - nieces and nephews, hunting buddies, their children’s friends or the kids they babysat. Everyone was welcome.
    Connie is survived by six children: Joy & Jim Grady, Denise DeYott, Donata DeYott, Lorrie DeYott, Dan Joe DeYott and Rae Ann Forseth; daughters-in-law Deanna DeYott and Sandy DeYott; 11 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren: John Grady & Kari Schluntz (daughters Haylee and Avery), Jimmy Grady (children Mackenzie Grady and Caliber Stanyer), Andrea & Jason Kost (children Gabe Torbert and Eleori Kost), Conner DeYott, Katie DeYott, Joey & Shelby DeYott, Ritien Glosser, Mackie Glosser (son Cooper Simon), Kayla Forseth, Alex DeYott and Joyce DeYott.
    She also leaves behind her sister-in-law Terry DeYott; nieces and nephews Joe & Fran Tierney, Joyce Tierney, Colleen Mee, Gale & Bill Bacon, Tim & Lee Ann Tierney, Rochelle & Perry Jones, Denise & Gene Beaudoin, Cherrie & Tim Anders, and Ray & Rachel DeYott Jr., Allen Draper, Karen & Larry Bush, Debi Mondragon, Claudia Draper Garrett, Julie Watts - plus a multitude of loving great-nieces and nephews.
    Connie was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, Donald Edward DeYott, whom she spent nine years missing; five of their children: Steven Edward, Debra Ann, Patricia Ann, Lawrence Eugene and William Raymond; grandsons Glenn Edward and Donald Edward Jr.; parents Annie Blackley McCarthy and William Albert McCarthy; and siblings and in-laws Jerry & Jean McCarthy, Jean & Ike Draper, Deanna Marsing, Lorraine & Eugene Tierney and Ray DeYott.
    Please join us in celebrating the life of Connie on Sunday, Nov. 9. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. at the Deer Lodge Elks Lodge, followed by interment at Hillcrest Cemetery. Friends and family are invited to return to the Elks Lodge for a luncheon at 2:30 p.m.
    In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Woman’s Club of Deer Lodge in support of New To You - or simply by doing what Connie did best: extending a helping hand, inviting someone in and making sure no one is left alone.
    “May the winds of Heaven blow softly and whisper in your ear how much we love and miss you, and wish that you were here.”