Doris Fayne Rector, age 85 of Great Falls, passed away at home September 4th surrounded by her loving family.
Doris was born December 2, 1932 to Lee Cartwright and Birdena McJunkin on the family ranch near Vananda, Montana where she was welcomed to the family by four older sisters and eventually was joined with two more sisters.
She attended local schools at Vananda and Hammond Valley before graduating from Colstrip. Mom spent many of her younger years helping her dad wrangle horses, put up hay and many other ranch chores, including selling her 4-H steers at the Forsyth Fair.
After graduation, Doris moved to Miles City and worked for the Highway Department. She met Vernon R. Beyl of Rosebud, Montana and they were married in 1954, and later divorced. Together, they had six children, Debra, Kent, Jo, Cheryl, Scott, and Ross.
In 1960, she went to work with the Corps of Engineers. This job took the family to Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1963, and then back to Great Falls in 1964, when she accepted a job at Malmstrom Air Force Base. When NORAD closed down in 1982, Doris transferred positions and became a housing inspector.
In 1988, this position took her back to her roots in Forsyth, Montana, where she also lived with and cared for her aging parents. In January 1994, Doris completed a long and successful federal career, retired and moved back to Vaughn. In 2003, mom moved to Great Falls, to be closer to her family.
Growing up on a ranch, Mom and her six sisters could not only wrangle horses, brand cows, swath the fields, stack hay, but each of them were excellent seamstresses, cooks and could play just about any musical instrument they could get their hands on. She always claimed – “Idle hands are a devils playground,” and she could out work most men!
In 1973, she married James M. Rector and moved to Vaughn. Together the two families combined to make a large rambunctious group! They enjoyed their annual wagon train trips from Landusky to Malta in their covered wagon and horses. They spent their time riding horses, raising a few cows and colts until Jim’s untimely passing in 1986.
Later in life, Doris traveled to Arizona and Florida to visit her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but spent most of her time between Great Falls, Forsyth, Colstrip and Miles City, where she and her sisters would get together and have a Jam Session, play honky tonk music, and sometimes indulge in a few adult beverages.
She was self-taught in playing the piano, organ, guitar, fiddle, and mandolin. Her greatest joy was crocheting an afghan for each and every one of her family members, which we all treasure.
She sewed all of her children’s clothes when they were younger; staying up all night after the kids went to bed, and continually sewed up something for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Sewing and crocheting were second to her joy and love for her grandchildren and music.
To read the complete obituary and share condolences, visit the Schnider Funeral Home website.
