Leonard Melvin Walla

LEONARD MELVIN WALLA, 80, of Big Timber, MT went to his eternal home on February 17th, 2026.

Leonard was born on April 27, 1945, to Bjarne C. and Myrtle A. (Lindsley) Walla in Sidney, MT where his father farmed and served as "ditch rider" for the area. Leonard was later joined by two brothers, Larry and Lynn Dee. The family lived briefly in Livingston and Drummond before going on to Harlowton and then Shawmut, MT, when Mr. Walla went to work for the State Water Board. Leonard graduated from Harlowton High School in 1963 and enlisted in the US Navy with his buddy, Charles "Chuck" Moel on February 6, 1964. He proudly served aboard the USS Hornet as an Aviation Ordinanceman (AO2) and transferred to Naval Reserves on May 3, 1968. He received a full honorable discharge from the Navy on 5 February 1970.

When his enlistment was up, Leonard returned to Harlowton where he met and married Pamela Steinhauser on June 17, 1970. Harlowton was where Leonard also met some construction linemen who were to determine a lifetime career for himself. He signed on with Duddy Construction as an apprentice lineman and went on to work in line construction for several years before discovering that while line construction suffered greatly in the Montana winters, linemen were working in their shirtsleeves in New Mexico. A quick trip there with several applications filed produced a job with an REA in Vaughn, NM and the young couple and their first son packed up and headed south. In 1976 they moved to Roswell, NM where Leonard went to work for Southwestern Public Service and their second son was born a few months later. After 27 years of climbing poles and also an on-the-job injury, Leonard officially retired from SPS. Pam worked as a travel nurse and they full timed in a converted Greyhound bus that Leonard had built over a period of time. In 2004 the marriage ended in an amicable divorce.

In the summer of 2005 Leonard planned to travel around the state of Montana in his camper and asked his former neighbor and friend of nearly 30 years if she wanted to "tag along" in her motorhome since she had lost her husband the year before. And so began the 21-year journey for Leonard and Karole. The good friends became best friends and ultimately were married on December 18, 2007. That was the year that Rylie was born. Someone once said, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans." Leonard and Karole both loved traveling in the RV (especially when it got less expensive to go in only one instead of two), but those plans changed when they became foster parents and eventually legal guardians for their granddaughter. Leonard had his little girl, and Karole became a mom for the first time. Rylie was definitely the light of Leonard's life and he enjoyed being Papa as much as he enjoyed raising his two sons.

The Wallas moved from their first home together in Orogrande, NM (a tiny ghost town just north of El Paso, TX) to Drake, ND in 2011 when they needed to have an in-state home to qualify for custody of Rylie when in foster care. Five years later, after moving back to New Mexico, Leonard and Karole missed the mountains of Montana where they had camped every summer in the foothills of the Crazy Mountains. They took a vacation and traveled the entire state looking for the location of their forever home. In April of 2016 they purchased the Richert home on Brakke Lane and happily made it the place of their dreams. Leonard had room for all the animals he wanted, and it came with the prospect of summer grazing the Richert horses and untold number of whitetail deer.

Karole knew there would be animals in her life when the very first gift Leonard gave her was a tiny, rescued baby robin they named Sunshine. Next to children, animals were his passion and he seemed specially drawn to birds. From raising a very tiny hummingbird and many, many robins to healing an injured owl and hatching a quail egg or carrying chickens into the house, he loved his creatures great and small. It was part of his gentle nature.

Leonard was a member of Big Timber Lutheran Church, the Hospitality House, American Legion Post 19, and a proud Plank Owner of the USS Hornet CVS-12 and member of their Squad 12.

Leonard is preceded in death by his parents and brother Lynn Dee. He is survived by his wife, Karole and granddaughter Rylie of the home; two sons, Travis Walla of Billings, MT and Kevin Walla of Eloy, AZ and their mother Pamela Steinhauser Walla of Eureka, CA; one brother, Larry Walla (Sue) of Glendive; close cousins Frances Lindsley Olson (Kelly) of Watford City, ND, Ina Mae Patterson (Jim) of Loogootee, IN, Gene Sattler (Pepper) of Minot, ND, Jim Sattler and JoAnne Bogar of Glendive, and Helen Myrstol (Daniel) of Big Timber.

Services are scheduled for 11:00AM, MST on Saturday, February 28th, at Big Timber Lutheran Church with military honors by the American Legion. The service will also be live streamed on YouTube. Memorials can be made to Big Timber Lutheran Church or the Hospitality House Senior Center in Big Timber.