Ellen Decker
Ellen (Dee) Decker was born on May 7, 1943, in Hughesville, MT, to Jim and Helen Crants. She grew up in Wolf Point and graduated high school in 1961. While working at the Tastee Freez, she met her future husband, Jim. They married on July 11, 1963. The couple lived in Glasgow, Wolf Point, Chinook, Whitefish and finally Billings, where Jim and Dee both called home for the rest of their lives. Along the way, they welcomed three children: Susan, Tracey and Craig.
As a stay-at-home mom for many years, Dee shared her love of reading, swimming, ice skating and the outdoors with their children. Her family was fortunate to have an endless supply of her delicious home-baked bread, fry-bread, canned fruits and jams always available. She sewed tailor-made clothes for her children and later took up knitting blankets, scarves and mittens for her friends and family. She never met a home improvement project she wouldn’t try, and she loved working around the yard, creating beautiful flowerbeds and seating areas to enjoy the sunrise and her morning coffee with her cat, Smoky.
Dee had worked as a legal secretary in Chinook, and later as a tutor for American Indian students at Billings Senior High, as well as working alongside Jim in the bee yards or at the shop after school and on weekends. She retired from Senior High and became a full-time caregiver to Jim as his Parkinson’s Disease progressed. She was very active in the Parkinson’s support group even after Jim’s death in 2017, and she was a good friend to many in the community.
Dee died of COVID-19 on Oct. 8, 2021. She is preceded in death by her parents, brothers Cliff Hasner, Ross Crants and Curtis Simonsen, and sister Leona (Crants) Anderson, and by her husband Jim. She is survived by her brothers Bob Crants of Helena and Duane Crants of Billings, her children, Susan (Dean Peterson) of Littleton, CO; Tracey (Andy Mast) of Littleton, CO; and Craig Decker of Billings; grandchildren Palmer and Delaney Peterson of Littleton, CO; Devon Decker of Pagosa Springs, CO, and Jared Eves of Billings, as well as several nieces and nephews. Her friends and family will miss her terribly. A service to celebrate Dee’s life will be held in May 2022. Details will be provided on the Dahl website at a later date.
Please consider making a charitable donation in Dee’s memory (She often supported the Montana Rescue Mission, Friendship House or an animal shelter).
