Brett L. Toney

TOWNSEND - Brett L. Toney, 27, a Helena electrician, died in an avalanche near Townsend on Saturday.
His funeral is 3 p.m. Saturday in the Broadwater County High School auditorium, followed by a reception at the school. Connors Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Brett is survived by his wife, Sarah; his daughters, Baylee and Cameron; his parents, Bart and Trish; his sisters, April (Jon) Wilhelm and Amber (Shawn) Livermore; his maternal grandmother, Margo Dundas; his paternal grandmother, Lesley Reid; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and a nephew. He was "Uncle Cha-chee" to his nieces and nephew.
Brett died Sat., Feb. 17, 2007, doing what he loved, snowmobiling with two of his lifelong friends. He will be missed by his many clients, friends, family and his remaining band of brothers.
Brett was born Jan. 11, 1980, in Helena, Mont., and graduated from Broadwater County High School in 1998. In 1999, he started working for Gold Rush Electric as an apprentice electrician on his way to obtaining his electrical license in November 2004. He founded and became the proud owner of Toney Electric in 2005.
Brett received a Meritorious Service Award from the Montana Highway Patrol in November 2001, when he helped rescue Tom Olds, who was having a heart attack on the family ranch up Six Mile while hunting.
On Aug. 17, 2002, Brett married Sarah J. Tracer (daughter of Dale and Kristina Tracer of Victor and Robert and Susan Gleich of Montana City), in a beautiful ceremony at his parents' home. They spent their first anniversary combining up Six Mile on his grandfather's ranch. When he learned that he was going to be a father, Brett built a beautiful home for his new family. Brett and Sarah have two gorgeous daughters, Baylee Jane "Goosey," born July 27, 2002, and Cameron Jolee "Sissy Sue," born Sept. 27, 2006. Sarah and his daughters were the loves of his life. Baylee was his apprentice, going downstairs to work with her dad. She loved to go with her dad to Kris's house to work on snowmobiles and get dirty. Brett could always make Cameron smile ("Hi, baby sis, let me see a smile").
During Brett's high school years, he enjoyed playing basketball and competing with Kris and Kirk to see who could dunk the ball with the most flair. Brett lived to hunt and snowmobile with his band of brothers - Kris, Jason, Kirk and Dustin. They competed with each other to see who could get the biggest set of horns. Many of these outings were on his grandfather's Townsend ranch and Jason's grandparents' ranch in Jim Ball Basin. His passion was to be outside doing anything with his friends, including ice fishing, shooting whistle pigs (gophers), riding motorcycles and hunting. He spent many hours fixing the snowmobile that seemed to break down every time he was out. He enjoyed working on his sled as much as he loved riding it. That was good because he lived to push the envelope in everything he did. He had gold fever and spent endless hours searching for gold with his metal detector and gold pan.
Brett had a great sense of humor. He teased Jason about his yellow sled - the banana. He seemed to have a nickname for everything and everybody. He loved to try to get the best of his sisters. One day they were spotting elk and his sister painted the binoculars with liquid mascara and when he put them to his face he came out looking like a raccoon.
Brett's mentor in life was his dad - Bart. He learned his mechanical abilities from watching his dad working on his snowmobiles when he was growing up. When Brett decided to form his own business, his mom and dad were there to guide him and help him create a very successful company.
He was preceded in death by his grandfathers - Lloyd Toney, Harold Reid and George Dundas.
Memorials may be made to the Brett Toney Memorial Fund at the American Federal Savings Bank.
Condolences may be sent online to greatfallstribune.com/obituaries.