Agnes Helen Kerr

AGNES KERR

From The Jordan Tribune March 23, 1972:

Mrs. Agnes Kerr, 56, Glasgow elementary school teacher, died Monday in Glasgow Deaconess Hospital after a short illness.

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Community Presbyterian Church in Jordan. Burial was in the Crane family cemetery on the Crane ranch near Jordan.

Mrs. Kerr was born July 26, 1915, in Bruce, Montana, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Crane.

She attended Ingomar High School and Eastern Montana College. She taught elementary school in Montana for 23 years and was teaching at East Side School in Glasgow until her illness.

Survivors include one daughter, Miss Karen Kerr of Glasgow, three sons, Norman of Lewistown, and Duane and Alan both of Glasgow; one brother Robert Crane of Lewistown; her mother, Mrs. Agnes Crane, Jordan and one grandchild.

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Brusett News in the same issue of the Jordan Tribune:

Among those away from here attending the funeral of Mrs. Nellie Kerr on Thursday were Mrs. Amy Crane and Bobby of Forsyth, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Crane and family of Lewistown, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Trotter of Nashua, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Byron of Hamilton, North Dakota, Mrs. Charles Allen of Winnett, Mrs. Geneva Highland of Vida and Mr. and Mrs. Dave Garber of Forest Grove.

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Agnes Helen Kerr was born at Bruce, Montana on July 25, 1915. She was to be delivered by a country doctor named Brewer, but a bad storm came through, and the Dr. could get there. Her father and Dr. Brewer both arrived the day after her birth. They had weathered several severe storms before arriving at the postmaster's home, the Stevenson's, at Bruce, Montana. (North of Ingomar, Montana)

At an early age Agnes decided that she could do what the boys could do. She wanted to try to fly, and recruited the help of her older brother and his buddy, Earl Trotter. The boys realized this was risky business, so in an effort to keep her safe while in flight, the boys tied a rope around her before she jumped off the cutbank. When she hit the end of the rope, she suffered some cuts and lacerations from the rope and the subsequent rough landing. Dr. Carroll stitched up the wounds. That was the end of her flying lessons... until Art Wardlow came to live with the family bringing his Waco 10 bi-plane with him in the 1930s! By then Agnes was teaching country schools, and Art frequently shuttled her to school on a Monday morning - or would fly in for a visit on weekends when she didn't come home.

When Agnes began school at the Linebarger School, Mrs. Liapple was her teacher. Mrs. Liapple called her "Sis." Agnes told her she had a name, and so had her doll. Mrs. Liapple asked, "What is it?" She replied, "Nellie."

Granny, Agnes "Nellie's" mother, was quite pleased with the selection because it was a Scottish nickname for "Helen," her daughter's middle name. Young Agnes was known as "Nellie" for many years.

After completing eight years in the grades, Nellie attended Ingomar High School. She went on to Eastern Montana Normal School and earned a life teaching certificate. She had the reputation of being a superb teacher.

Her first school was Flat Creek. She had a philosophy that she would try not to teach more than one or two years in any one place. She taught at Ingomar, Flat Creek, North Star, Purewater, Benchland, Moccasin, the Ayers Hutterite Colony at Lewistown, Blackfoot (Iler), Van Norman, Coal Creek, Keplerville, and many other places.

Nellie married Roy Kerr on January 3, 1942 in Miles City. Reverend Fitz performed the ceremony, and send the following article to the local paper:

    Page Three

    Miss Crane Becomes Bride Roy W. Kerr

       Miss Agnes Helena Crane, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.     

    Charles Crane of the Brusett region in Garfield county,   

    last night at eight o'clock in the Presbyterian Manse, 

    became the bride of Roy W. Kerr of the Van Norman   

    region.

       The Rev. John B. Fitz of the Presbyterian church 

    officiated at the marriage ceremony, reading the 

    nuptial vows which united the couple in bonds of 

    matrimony.

       The bride is a popular young woman of the Brusett

    neighborhood, and the groom is operating a ranch in the 

    Van Norman region.  After a honeymoon trip, Mr. and 

    Mrs. Kerr will return to the home of the groom for 

    their residence.

The first two or three months the couple lived in a sheep wagon. They slept with their potatoes at night to keep them from freezing.

The following fall, Roy was inducted in to the Army Artillery and served in the Pacific theater WWII. Nellie accompanied a cousin, Katie McRae to Camp Rucker, Alabama, to visit Roy. Later, Nellie and Roy lived at Camp Rucker until Roy was shipped to another location, perhaps overseas. At that point, Nellie returned to the family ranch at Brusett. In November of that year, 1943, a son, Norman Charles, was born.

Three other children followed: Karen Marie (Nagelhus) in 1946) Duane Roy in 1950, and Alan Murray in 1953.

Nellie was an artistic person who used natural objects in works of art and crafts. She was knowledgeable and intelligent. She was an attractive young person who never lacked for suitors.

At the time of her death, she was teaching in Glasgow, Montana.

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From Life on the High Plains & Come Ride With Me by Mary Lou Davis - Copyright 2012 - page 62:

"We had a really good teacher that year. She was Nellie Crane. She came from the Brusett country west of Jordan. She had a boyfriend from Fort Peck. He had an airplane and on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, he would bring Jessie McKinsey from over near Cohagen and was teaching the Haxby School. Sometimes on a Saturday night, I would get called in to make a fourth at whist. We would make fudge and enjoy a good game of cards. On Sunday evening, I would ride down to the school house, and Art Wardlow would be getting his plane ready to take off. He would have to take out the spark plugs and wash them in gasoline and make sure they were dry before putting them back in. I would be just in time to do the washing. If he didn't clean them, he couldn't get up enough altitude to get up over the divide north of our place.

"I have a picture of the plane and Nellie Crane and Jessie and myself and Art in his goggles. The last I knew of the plane, it was parked at the Crane ranch west of Jordan. Jessie McKinsey married Hoolie Edwards and later was to lose her life in one of the worst boating accidents ever to happen on Fort Peck Lake."* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Nov 17 2023, 4:24:58 UTC