Lillian Gregoryk

Lillian (Frisch) Thornton Gregoryk, 84, passed away peacefully at her home in Billings, Mont., on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, after a lengthy illness.

Cremation has taken place and there will be no funeral services.

She was born on Feb. 23, 1931, to John and Sylvia (Borland) Frisch on the family farm near Hinsdale. She attended school in Hinsdale and Glasgow. When she was seven years old, the family moved to a farm 7 miles west of Glasgow on the Tampico Road, where she grew up.

She met and married Dale Thornton of Glasgow in 1948. From this union they brought six children into their lives. They lived on Dale's father's farm for several years. There were many fond memories in the

Avondale Community they used to share with their children as they grew older and could help around the farm. The one and very important thing she taught her children while on the farm was how the earth and livestock could provide for the whole family.

She loved to cook. In season she cooked for her family of eight and the extra farmhands hired for harvest. As the children grew older, she loved to make their clothes as she was an avid seamstress. She also raised large gardens every year and taught them how to preserve most things for the harsh winters.

She and her family followed Dale for several years as he worked on highway construction around the state. Then they moved back to Glasgow to their home on Skylark Road. They started a chicken business, supplying the Air Force Base with fresh eggs and fryers. She also supplied her little store they built on the front of their house. Dale had started a trucking business. He died in Billings on one of his trips.

After her first husband died in 1969, she stayed in Glasgow for about four years and decided she needed a change, so in 1971 she moved to Billings where she cooked for the Little Jewel Cafe. It was there she met her future husband, Dave Gregoryk. They were married in 1974. They both shared an interest in camping and loved to compete with each other about fishing - "catching the big one." They took many road trips, but her fondest was cruising down Hwy 101. She had never seen the ocean so close.

Their travels took them in a huge circle and they ended their travels and settled in Billings, which they decided to call home. The coming years were exciting for both and sometimes downright hard work. She was very proud of her accomplishment of learning the art of upholstery in a program that was taught through the mail. She was very good at it as she worked her way up from small items to entire living room sets as well as many business owners became regular customers for repairing and upholstering.

She and Dave tried their hand at raising corn, which proved to be quite successful. They seeded about seven acres of sweet corn and sold corn by the dozen in a parking lot in downtown Billings. Dave died in 2000.

Her health started to deteriorate just about five years ago, following an unfortunate fall at home where she broke her hip. As hard as it was for her, she still tried to function on her own until just six months ago when she suffered another bad fall at home, leaving her bedridden.

She was a very strong woman. She met challenges head on and never took no for an answer. This time the fight was too much.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, Dale Thornton, in 1969 and Dave Gregoryk in 2000; one son, Warren Lyle "Shorty" Thornton in 1998; one daughter, Jeanette Lee Thornton Watson in 1994; one grandson, Rodney Hopkins; two granddaughters, Dawn Lynn Thornton and Leslie Smith; two brothers, Fred Frisch of Helena and Robert Frisch of Glasgow; two sisters, Margaret Soper and Kay Frisch, both of Glasgow; brothers-in-law, Stanley Olson and Wesley Soper, both of Larslan; and a sister-in-law, Virginia Frisch of Helena.

Survivors include two sons, David Thornton and his wife, Carol, of Yuma, Ariz., Kenneth Thornton and his wife, Caroll, of Billings; two daughters, Sylvia Pugsley and her husband, Ron, of Caldwell, Idaho, and Margaret Lipscomb and her husband, James, of Colstrip; 16 grandchildren and 11 step grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren and 17 step great-grandchildren; two sisters, Lenore Hinerman and her husband, Ray, of Glasgow, and Helen Peterson and her husband, Don, of Berthold, N.D.; many nieces and nephews; and her most devoted friend and companion, her little dog, Bailey, (who now resides with Sylvia in Idaho.)

Mother, we will miss you every day, and we will love and honor you forever and always.

Three of her children tried to give her her last wish. They fell short, but by no fault of their own. She wanted all her children to share a dinner that her daughter, Sylvia called, "A dinner to honor our Mother." Dave and Carol, Ken and Carol and Sylvia and Ron were there. Unfortunately their older sister, Margaret and her husband, James, could not attend. She was happy anyway.