Nancy Young

Today we are joining together to lay Nancy Edith May Neidt Young to rest. Her journey here on earth is finished and a new journey has begun. She is joining loved ones and family who passed before her. Nancy's life began in the beautiful Big Hole Valley between Wisdom and Jackson Montana.  The second child to John and Jessie Chilcote Neidt, she was born May 14th,1935 and was raised on the family ranch with her siblings Joan, John, Jason, Mary and Rosa. In her early years her time was spent on the ranch where she enjoyed riding her horse Copper with sisters Joan and Mary through the wide open fields around their home. She attended grades 1st through 8th in a one-room schoolhouse with other kids from the surrounding ranches. They rode horseback to school for part of the year and in a horse drawn sleigh during the winter where they would all get under a pile of blankets and the horses would take them to and from school without having to be guided by anyone. There was no high school in the Big Hole so Nancy stayed with her Uncle Byron and Aunt Emma Chilcote in Missoula where she attended Hellgate High school. Later, when her parents moved to a ranch in the Frenchtown Valley, she attended Frenchtown High School.  Her senior year, Nancy went to Corvallis Oregon to live with another aunt and uncle (Aunt Ruby and Uncle John Graham) to complete high school and attend business college.

She met the first love of her life, James Donald Petersen(Don) in Frenchtown and they were married July 9, 1955.  Residing in Missoula, they had three children Terri, Lisa and Jim.  Don passed away unexpectedly in 1972.  A few years later she met her second love, Everett Young, and gained a step-son, Dwight.  For the majority of her career, Nancy worked for the Forest Service.  She loved every bit of it, even staying in a tent at the fire site keeping track of the books.  After Everett retired as a Railroad Engineer, they lived the remainder of their life in beautiful Plains, Montana.  After his passing, Nancy moved to Missoula to be with her children and many grandchildren.

Nancy had many stories of her life but her tales of the Big Hole and the longing of the memories she loved to share so proudly with everyone were amongst her favorites.  Everything always ended with "in the Big Hole"......  Nancy returned to the valley many times over the years, where she talked and shared all of her great memories with family and friends.

Although she suffered from dementia, Nancy never lost her greatest qualities: her humor and quick wit.  Her wittiness would make you shake your head and humor would catch you off guard.  She never forgot her love for her family and all the intertwining stories she loved to share. Nancy stayed in touch with family members beyond her immediate family and loved learning of their whereabouts and achievements.

Nancy loved us all no matter what, through thick and thin. We all will forever miss her.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, December 18, 2021 at Ronan Cemetery at 2:00 pm.