Gene Loren Ketterling,
87, was born to Fred and Lydia (Herman) Ketterling on
January 16th, 1933. He was the third child of four joining
the family at home in Nibbe, MT. Gene left this earth to
meet the Lord on December 31st, 2020 after being cared for
by the wonderful staff at Bella Terra Billings.
Gene spent his early years on the family farm in Nibbe until
the age of 16, when his family moved to the big city of
Billings. He worked for Saint Vincent Hospital until joining
the Navy in 1952 at the encouragement of a friend. Gene
served honorably aboard the USS Essex during the Korean War.
During his days in service, Gene managed a few shenanigans
including a spontaneous swim in a nearby waterhole with a
couple of Naval buddies that turned out to be the town’s
drinking water!
Within a year of his honorable discharge from the Navy, Gene
met the love of his life, Phyllis Nafts. The couple met
through her sister, Delores, while spending time at Delores’
house together. They were married July 20th, 1957, and
within the year welcomed a son, Gary, who was later joined
by two sisters—Sherry and Colleen. While raising his family,
Gene spent 29 years working for Pierce Packing. Upon the
company’s closing, he worked a variety of jobs until his
retirement.
Gene enjoyed free time by hunting and fishing in his younger
years, and listening to audiobooks, volunteering, and
spending time with family in his older years. Though he
enjoyed fishing, he was often referred to as “the jinx” by
his brothers-in-law because the trips with him always seemed
to be fruitless. On one such trip, the men even decided to
make a pit stop to buy some fish at a local shop and tell
everyone those were the “fresh” bounty for the day, rather
than come home empty handed! Gene spent 17 years
volunteering daily at the Billings Food Bank as a way of
giving back to the community.
During his retirement, also Gene spent much of his time with
his wife and grandchildren. He was blessed with five—Tracy,
Dino, Katie, Linda, and Ryan. He was an avid presence in
their younger lives, always wanting to spoil the grandkids
as the saying goes. When Katie was about four years old, she
asked Grandpa for a Barbie jeep. Being a naďve man, Gene
assumed this was a small jeep that Barbie dolls fit into and
could be moved around as a toy (as his daughters had when
they were young) --well he was wrong! Katie promptly went
home and told everyone she was getting a Barbie jeep to
cruise around in from Grandpa. A man of his word, Katie got
that jeep for Christmas that year
.
There are too many memories and fond stories to sum up
nearly 88 years of Gene’s meaningful life in this small
tribute. The family requests in lieu of flowers please share
some of your favorite stories and memories with us to
celebrate his life.
Gene joins his parents (Fred and Lydia), sister (Lorraine
Flemming), brother (Elroy), son (Gary), and many other
relatives at rest. He is survived by his wife (Phyllis),
daughters—Sherry (James) Hoban and Colleen (Greg) Silvis,
brother (Millard), daughter-in-law (Charlise), as well as
his grandchildren—Tracy Philbin, Dino (Theresa) Bott, Katie
(Aaron) Ketterling-Thornburg, Linda Silvis, and Ryan Silvis.
Gene was fortunate to also have eight great-grandchildren
who also survive him: Eric, Ryan, Sarah, Charlise, Rylee,
Brooklyn, Paulina, and Terrance.
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