Cloudy, 38° F
(May 19, 2002)
Memorial services will be conducted today (Thursday) at 11 a.m. at Union Presbyterian Church for long-time Powell resident, Margaret Lee Prickett Huntley, 94, who died Sunday, May 19 at the Powell Nursing Home after a lengthy illness.
She was born Oct. 19, 1907, to Darius and Rosalie Dickenson Prickett in Hutchinson, Kans. She was the youngest of eight children, six of whom were living at the time of her birth. She received her elementary schooling in Kansas and several schools in Montana, graduating from high school in Miles City in 1924.
She attended Montana State Normal School in Dillon and began her teaching career in Edgar, Mont., in 1927. In the fall of 1929, she began teaching in Billings where she met her future husband, Bruce B. Huntley. They were married in June of 1933 and celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary in 1999.
Two daughters were born to this union: Roberta Lee and Margaret Ann. She temporarily retired from teaching to devote her time to raising her family.
In the fall of 1946, the family moved to Powell when Mr. Huntley purchased the Ford dealership. She began substitute teaching, and when offered a permanent job, she began her second interval as a teacher. She continued her education during the summers and was graduated with a B.A. degree from the University of Wyoming in the summer of 1961. She taught second grade in the Eastside Grade School building and was one of the original teachers when the new Southside School was built. She taught there until her retirement in 1972.
She was a member of the Union Presbyterian Church, the P.E.O. Sisterhood, Order of Eastern Star, the Job's Daughters Council, and attended the Powell Retired Teachers Organization until failing health prohibited her participation.
After retirement, she devoted her time to being a mother and a grandmother and visited and shopped for residents of the Powell Nursing Home.
Survivors include her daughters, Roberta (Bobbie) Huntley Stutzman and husband John Max of Powell and Margaret (Peggy) Huntley Ostlund of Billings; six grandchildren, Kim Engwall of East Lyme, Conn., Tod Stutzman of Powell, Sydney Rademacher of Washington, Brett Stutzman of Powell, Scott Ostlund of Billings and Amy Wachholz of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and 11 grandchildren.
Preceding her in death were her parents, husband Bruce, her three sisters and two brothers.
She will be remembered as a devoted mother and grandmother and an exemplary school teacher. She loved her students and did not consider teaching a job, but rather a source of joy.
Cremation has taken place.
For those who wish, the family would appreciate memorials to the Northern Rockies Cancer Center, 1041 N. 29th, Billings, MT 59101; to the Presbyterian Church; or to a charity of choice.
