Harold L. Shipton

THREE FORKS -- Harold L. Shipton, age 88, of Three Forks passed away April 12, 2011, at Clancy.
Harold was born in Big Timber to Harry and Menda Shipton on April 12, 1923. He started his Navy career joining on April 16, 1942. He was very proud to be a disabled veteran of WWII. He was discharged on February 19, 1946.
He married Martha Duffey on June 30, 1946, at the American Lutheran Church in Billings.
He moved his wife and four children to the Three Forks Madison Valley in 1957. He managed the Climbing Arrow Ranch for Buck and Marcia Anderson from 1957 to 1990. He loved his job of handling cows, horses and the hay fields. His work ethics were of a very high standard. They then retired to Three Forks to live and they also traveled to Arizona for the winter months. After Martha's death in 1995 Harold adapted well to a life change of learning how to cook, do laundry and he became an avid house cleaner. He enjoyed working in his beautiful yard, (fertilize, irrigate, and mow -- once a farmer, always a farmer), attending Bobcat football games with Buck and was a handyman for the ladies of Three Forks. He said, this was his best paying job, in receiving the baked goods. He loved his coffee, a cookie and evening ice cream.
Thanks to the Daddy Day Care providers Judy, Pat, Janice, and daughter Patty and also to Spring Creek Memory Care, Elkhorn Care Center and Rocky Mountain Hospice.
Dad was preceded in death by his wife Martha and son Bruce.
He is survived by daughters Jackie (Bob) Haab of Clancy, Patty Jones of Three Forks, and Jeanne (Bill) Greeves of Gillette, Wyo.; grandchildren Jennifer (Lee) Warren, Tara (Jason) Wiscott, Cassidy (John) Scandola, Tim Jones, Ryan Greeves and Rochelle Greeves; and three great grandchildren, Jackson, Georgia, and Carson.
Memorials may be made to the Three Forks Senior Center or the Big Timber American Legion.
Memorial services will be held Monday, April 25, at 2 p.m. from the K&L Mortuary Chapel at Three Forks with Rev. Charlie Christensen officiating. A private interment will be held later at the Mountain View Cemetery at Big Timber.