John Mervin Dirks

John Mervin Dirks, 86, of Savage, Mont., passed away from natural causes on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, at the Sidney Health Center in Sidney.

He was born Sept. 14, 1928, in Dalmeny, Saskatchewan, Canada, the son of Abraham and Adeline Dirks.

On April 7, 1955, he married Linda Wall in Lustre. They moved to Lambert, Mont., where he worked on the farm as a young man until they moved to Mt. Lake in 1958, where he worked construction with his brother, Art.

Later they moved to Omaha, Neb., from 1959 to 1970, to work in a meat packing plant for 11 years. They moved back to Lustre to farm with his father-in-law, O.J. Wall, until 2005. He also worked as a bus driver for the local schools for nearly 30 years. He retired in September of 2002 and moved to Williston. They stayed there until 2005 and their recent move to Savage.

He attended the EMB Church in Lustre and then attended Liberty Evangelical Church in Williston, N.D. After moving to Savage, he attended Yellowstone Community Church.

His hobbies included collecting keychains, caps, old toy cars and tractors, as well as puzzle games.

He enjoyed wood working and selling his wares at local bazaars. He was often found listening to the radio and keeping up with current events.

Survivors include his loving wife, Linda; four children, Lavonne, and her husband, John, of Lustre, Cherylene Setchfield of Williston, Kevin and his wife, Kelli, of Savage, and Valerie Fugleberg and her husband, Mark, of Holdingford, Minn.; 13 grandchildren, Cody Toews, of Williston, Brooke Holzrichter and her husband, Jared, of Lustre, Amy Gramza and her husband, Steven, of Petersburg, Fla., Casey Toews of Hillsboro, Kan., Morgan and Molly Setchfield of Williston, Caleb Dirks of Williston, Cassandra Robinson and her husband, James, of Glendive, Trenton Dirks of Williston, Ashley Fugleberg of Williston, Andrea, Alisa and Alanah of Holdingford, Minn.; and three great-granddaughters, Aubrianne, Lauryn and Ava Holzrichter of Lustre.

Funeral services were held Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 2 p.m. at the Lustre EMB Church in Lustre, followed by interment in the Lustre EMB Cemetery.

Bell Mortuary of Glasgow, Mont., was in charge of events.