William Murray STOCKTON, Jr

1921 - 2002  (81 years)

• Name	William Murray STOCKTON
  Suffix	Jr
  Birth	1 Mar 1921	Hennepin County, Minnesota
  Gender	Male
  Death	29 Oct 2002	Montana
  Notes	In the 1950 census, he was a rancher in Grass Range in Fergus County, Montana. GRASS RANGE - William Murray Stockton died Oct. 29, 2002, after a 12-month battle with lung cancer. Bill, born in 1921, was raised in Winnett along with his three sisters, Patience, Mary and Ruth, by his widowed mother, Julia Stockton. In 1935, the family moved to Grass Range, where Bill graduated from Grass Range High School in 1938. In 1942, he enlisted in the army, where he was first assigned to the military police patrolling the troop trains crossing the nation. Later, he was assigned to the 239th General Hospital Unit as a medic and sign painter. In 1944, the 239th was stationed near Paris, France, where he met his future wife, Elvia Angelo Cirefice. They were married in the base chapel on the 30th of June, 1945. In 1946, the family, now joined by their first son Gilles, lived in Billings, where Bill worked as a sign painter. Taking advantage of the GI Bill, the family moved to Minneapolis, where Bill studied art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. They then returned to France, where Bill continued to study art at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere. In 1950, the family moved back to Grass Range, where Bill took over operation of the family ranch from his mother. Their second son, Charles, was born in 1951. During this period, Bill continued to explore his passion for art while actively ranching. Along with a small group of friends, he is credited with having introduced the modern movement of art to Montana. For his entire career, he continued to blend the work and life of a rancher with the creative energy he poured into art. During his life as an artist, he experimented with many different styles and techniques. Over the half a century of his art career, he worked with oil paints, watercolors, cattle markers, line drawings, and concrete, bronze and steel sculptures. His styles ranged from pure abstracts to pure representational works and most everything in between. Bill also wrote and illustrated a book on sheep and the life of a sheep rancher, entitled "Today I Baled Some Hay to Feed the Sheep the Coyotes Eat." This book is still in print. For many years, he gave art classes in Lewistown, seminars at many different locations, and in 1969, he was a visiting professor of art at Montana State University. For the last 25 years of his life, he devoted his art to depicting the changing landscape of his home on MacDonald Creek west of Grass Range. This series of landscapes concentrated on the patterns of brush, rocks, trees, hills, snow and grass. The focus was most often on small and intimate areas instead of the vast vistas. He continued this line of work into the last year of his life. His work is represented in hundreds of private and public collections across the nation and Europe. The Yellowstone Art Museum has acquired a collection of more than 75 pieces that cover the entire range of his career as an artist. In 2000, he was awarded the Yellowstone Art Museum's Presidents Award and just before his death, he was presented with the 2003 Governor's Award for the Arts. His fans, friends and family are grateful for the many beautiful examples of his unique vision that he has given to inspire us. Bill is survived by his wife, Elvia of Grass Range; son, Gilles along with his wife Joan of Grass Range; son, Charles and his wife Sue Ann of Arkansas; and grandchildren, Antoine, Jeremy and Brittany. He is also survived by a sister, Patience Hillius of Hamilton and her daughters, Judy and Mary Ann. He was very close with his French family by marriage including brother-in-law, Lucien Cirefice and family; sisters-in-law, Marie Bagary, Antoinette Bognon, Angel Nardonne and Jeanette Cirefice; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, William and Julia; and his sisters, Ruth and Mary. The family would like to thank the staff of the Central Montana Hospice Program for their wonderful spirit, support and care that helped Bill and his family through these difficult final weeks. Funeral services for William M. Stockton will be held at the Grass Range United Methodist Church on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 10:30 a.m. Interment will be at the Grass Range Cemetery.
  Person ID	I28148	Don Carlson's Tree
  Last Modified	17 Jan 2023

  
  

  Father	William Murray (Tex) STOCKTON, Sr,   b. 30 Sep 1871, Texas d. Nov 1920, Fergus County, Montana (Age 49 years)
  Mother	Julia ERICKSON,   b. 23 Dec 1880, Buffalo County, Wisconsin d. 25 Dec 1975, Fergus County, Montana (Age 95 years)
  Marriage	1913
  Family ID	F18616	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Elvia Angelo CIREFICE,   b. 22 Jul 1922, France d. 25 Jun 2018, Fergus County, Montana (Age 95 years)
  Marriage	30 Jun 1945	France
  Family ID	F19617	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	12 Nov 2018