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Joseph Samuel Dent

Posted 2009-04-16 by Sharon
The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ
November 21, 2001, p. A20

Joseph Samuel Dent of Judith Gap, Mont., died Thursday (Nov. 15), 2001 in Wickenburg. He was struck by a vehicle while crossing a busy street. He was 76. Joe Dent was born on the family ranch near Biddle, Mont., on Aug. 2, 1925.

He was the son of Joseph and Gladys "Peggy" Dent. He attended grade school at Bowers Country School and graduated high school in Broadus. As a youngster, he herded sheep and broke horses.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 17 during World War II and served as a corpsman on the hospital ship USS Samaritan during major war campaigns throughout the South Pacific.

He married DeLores Kjos on Aug. 12, 1945 and tried farming in Minnesota after the war until 1947 when they moved to Broadus, Mont., where he worked as a parts man for the Ford dealership.

While working, Joe Dent studied in his spare time and without attending college, passed his CPA exams to enter the field of accounting.

He moved to Miles City in 1950 and became a partner in the CPA firm Stallard, Cole and Dent. He was active in the Miles City community as a Boy Scout leader and a Little League baseball coach. He also served years on the school board and served as president of the Trinity Lutheran Church congregation.

Joe Dent loved Montana and the rich western history of the region. He was a founding father of the Eastern Montana Historical Society and originated the spearheaded the effort to move and restore of the officer's quarters at Fort Keogh. The Fort Keogh museum now stands adjacent to the Range Riders Museum in Miles City.

An avid student of Native American history, Joe Dent had many discussions with John Stands-in-Timber, the noted Cheyenne historian. He led the effort to place historical markers to commemorate Crook's battlefield on the Rosebud.

Coming from a musical family, in his younger days Joe and his wife Dee enjoyed playing and singing for country dances around southeastern Montana.

He retired from the accounting business in 1978. In retirement, he lived outside of Livingston, Mont., Wickenburg, Ariz., Spearfish, S.D., and Miles City and Billings, Mont., where he lived until the death of his wife DeLores in 1996.

In 1997, he married Penny Tierney and moved to the Harlowton area, where he has lived until the time of his accident.

Survivors include his wife Penny Dent of Judith Gap, Mont.; children Rick Dent and his wife Fidele of Bellingham, Wash., Jody Oliver and her husband Ed of Everett, Wash.; and Gary Dent and his wife Rene of Conrad, Mont.; grandchildren Gary Dent Jr. of Missoula,, Steve Dent of Butte, and Rachel and Sam Oliver of Everett, Wash.

He also is survived by sisters Susan Nisley of Spearfish, S.D., and Vivian Meade of Auburn, Wash; numerous nephews and nieces; stepchildren Kathleen Schreiber and family of Howerton, Ken Sheperd and family of Bozeman, Karen Yant and family of Bozeman, and Kelly Peake of Billings.

Besides his first wife, he was preceded in death by his parents and three brothers.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 26 at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Miles City. Burial will follow at the Custer County Cemetery.

Stevenson and Sons Funeral Home in Miles City is in charge of arrangements.

Should friends desire, memorials may be made to the Harlowton Historical Society in Harlowton, Mont.





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