Patricia Van Deren

Patricia Van Deren, 80 Patricia was born on January 26, 1936 in Billings, Montana to John and Ida (Gierke) Danils. She passed away after a short illness surrounded by her family at the Renaissanse Southside in Dillon, Montana on October 10, 2016. At Patricia's request, she will be cremated and her ashes spread in a private ceremony on the ranch north of Dillon. As a young girl, Patricia lived with her parents in Billings. Her parents ran the Danil's Cafe in Roundup until her father John's death in 1941. Charles Krause married Ida in 1947 and raised Patricia as his daughter. Charles owned the Cream of the West business in Billings. She attended North Park Elementary School and graduated in 1953 from Billings Senior High School. After high school, Patricia worked as a telephone operator for the AT&T Company in Billings. With her first paycheck, she purchase a pair of television sets for her mother, Ida and for Patricia's "second mother," Selma Pfeiffer Eiden. She later worked at the family's Cream of the West factory in Billings. In November 1961, she married Walter Van Deren in Billings, Montana. They had two sons, Robert in 1963 and John in 1965. Patricia loved riding horses and enjoyed working cattle with "the men," She was a helpmate to Walter, cooking for hay crews, helping with lambing, working and driving tractors brushing meadows. Some of Patricia's happiest memories were of days filled with boys, puppies and bum lambs and calves filling the air with sounds of activity and joy. After her son Rob married, Patricia enjoyed visiting and organizing family dinners with his wife Linda. She also cherished watching her grandson, Theodore, growing up on the ranch with her. She used a firm hand with the hunters eyeing up "her" pheasants that sought sanctuary outside her window. Patricia was never prouder than when her son John graduated from the General Motors Institute and gave Pat her first grandson, Gunnar and granddaughter, Faith. She also enjoyed Gunnar and Faith's trips to Montana and enjoyed hearing about all the new vehicles her son John helped develop as an automotive engineer for Chrysler, Daimler, Navistar and Ford. Patricia was an active member of the Glen Unit and Beaverhead County Farm Bureaus and in earlier years, the First Baptist Church in Dillon. Patricia was known by the ranch hands as the best cook in the valley. Her cakes, cobblers, and pies were especially delightful. She also enjoyed knitting, crocheting and her trips to Arizona's red rock country and to the Pacific Coast. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ida (1966) and John (1941) Danils, her step-father Charles Krause (1962) and her in-laws, Leah (1973) and Earl (1993) Van Deren. Besides her former husband, Walter, Patricia is survived by her sons, John Van Deren of Canton, MI and his children, Gunnar and Faith; Robert (Linda) Van Deren of Dillon and their son, Theodore of Dillon. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Arthritis Foundation, PO Box 8113, Missoula, MT 59807 or a charity of the donor's choice is preferred.