Linda R. Nybakken

Linda (Cook) Nybakken, 72, passed away, surrounded by family, at Hillside Health Care Center in Missoula, Mont., on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017, following a long and courageous battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other health problems. She maintained an upbeat and positive attitude until the end, and as her great friend, Karen Gaskill, wrote, "Can you imagine the cleanest, purest air she is breathing right now? I am just happy for her at this moment."

Family, friends, and others whose lives Linda touched are invited to the First Lutheran Church in Glasgow, Mont., at 11 a.m., on Saturday, Aug. 26, for a funeral service, with lunch following.

She was born Aug. 16, 1944, in Broadus, Mont., to Leland and Montana "Tana" (Ames) Cook. She had one sibling, Robert (Bob) Cook. She loved horses and the ranch life growing up and her favorite vacation spots were the "hills of Powder River County."

She graduated from Powder River High School in 1962, and then attended Eastern Montana College. She married Dan Fraser and they had two sons. She and Dan later divorced. She lived in many different places during her life, including Billings, Browning, East Glacier, Helena, Boise, Miles City and Glasgow. She was a very hard worker and had a number of different jobs including working for an oil drilling outfit and a company that built doors for naval ships. She also worked for the Blackfeet Tribe in Browning and finally for the Welfare Department for the State of Montana.

She moved to Glasgow in 1991. While in Glasgow, she met her future husband Don Nybakken, who she married in 1993. He brought three children to the union, and together they ended up with 12 grandchildren that they were both tremendously proud of. She worked in Glasgow as the county director for the Welfare Department while Don farmed. She retired from the state with 30-years of service in 2005. After retirement, she took on contract work in addition to the many duties required of a farmer's wife.

She loved her post-retirement work as the District One trustee and chairman for the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center. She also loved to stay in contact with her many friends and family no matter where they lived, and she just loved visiting with people. She enjoyed politics (Democrat), cooking, sewing, arts and crafts, and began making jewelry, as her health deteriorated and endless hours of physical work became more difficult. She found true joy in giving to her family and many friends. Don always said her jewelry making was a great business that probably only cost her about $5,000 a year, not counting the many hundreds of hours of her time. But she loved the hours spent, and she loved the people she gave the jewelry and other crafts to, most often with an accompanying note.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

She is survived by her husband, Don Nybakken of Nashua; one brother, Bob Cook of Pocatello, Idaho; two sons, Denver Fraser and his wife, Tammy, of Clancy, Mont., and Dax Fraser and his wife, Kim, of Missoula; two grandchildren, Dane and Kodi Fraser; three step-children, Brian Nybakken, Greg Nybakken and his wife, Kelli, and Jana Tolzien and her husband, Luke; and 10 step-grandchildren: Jordan, Trinn, Allie, and Kyra Nybakken; Katelin Anderson, Hayley, Brianna and Cash Nybakken; and Davis and Garris Tolzien.

Should friends desire, memorials may be made to the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center, PO Box 1569, Big Timber, MT 59011.