Agnes Elizabeth Vink

Agnes E. Vink, age 99, of Livingston, died at her home on August 23, 2013 following a short illness. Graveside Committal service and interment will be Thursday, August 29, 11 a.m. at Park View Memorial Gardens south of Livingston. Reverend Steven Paugh Leuzinger of American Lutheran Church will officiate. Family and friends will gather at Franzen-Davis Funeral Home, 118 North 3rd Street at 10:30 a.m. to proceed to the cemetery. Fellowship will follow the committal at American Lutheran Church, 129 South F Street, all are encouraged to attend. Agnes was born August 15, 1914 in Livingston, Montana, the daughter of Carl and Ragnhild "Randy" (Lende) Mysse and was raised on her family's ranch south of Reed Point, Montana. She graduated from Reed Point High School in 1932 and earned a teaching certificate from Montana State Normal College in Dillon in 1934. Agnes taught at rural schools in Sweet Grass County before moving to Park County in 1937 to teach Daily School students at Big Creek. During the school year she met Peter "Jack" Vink, Jr., a second-generation stockman who operated a ranch on Dry Creek. Jack and Agnes married in 1939. She returned to teach at Daily School in 1948-1949, the last term school was held at Daily. Her son, Bill, was one of her five students. Jack and Agnes' daughter, Pat, was born the following year. During their 57 years together, Jack and Agnes tripled the size of their ranch and contributed to the Paradise Valley community. Agnes was an active member of the local chapter of the Royal Neighbors of America, the American Cancer Society, and the Emigrant Community Hall Association. She served for several decades as an Emigrant precinct election judge. Agnes was a lifelong member of the American Lutheran Church. For many years, Agnes cooked for Ox Yoke Dude Ranch guests, but her considerable culinary reputation wasn't made in any kitchen but her own. From her Majestic coal and wood range came 60 years' worth of dinner rolls, sweet rolls and pies of hand-picked apples, mountain-grown huckleberries and store-bought peaches. Few community dinners, church dinners, or private gatherings took place unattended by "Agnes' rolls." Of all the delicacies baked in her small kitchen, however, none were finer than those which traveled just a few steps to Agnes' dining room tablea"a place that always had room for just one more chair. After the sale of their ranch and Jack's death in 1996, Agnes purchased a home in Livingston. She continued her productive lifestyle by creating works of hardanger, sewing quilts, gardening and for the first time in her life, routinely baked pastries in an electric oven. Agnes is survived by her son, William "Bill" Vink and his wife Arlyth Sarver; her daughter, Patricia Brekke and her husband Jerry, all of Livingston. Grandchildren, Todd Brekke of Bozeman; Sara Harmon and her husband Chris of Belgrade; Gary Vink of Dillon and Keith Vink of Hardin. Great-grandchildren, Kyle Brekke; Caleb, Jack, Macayla, Ethan and Tyler Harmon. A sister, Helen Osen of Livingston and two sisters-in-law, Helen Mysse of Harlowton, Sally Severin of Absarokee and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends. In addition to her husband Jack, Agnes was preceded in death by her parents, Carl and Randy; three brothers, Donald, Jack and Robert Mysse; three sisters, Ella Hillard, Kristine Solberg, and Dorothy Langhus; and a granddaughter, Wendy Vink. Arrangements are under the direction of Franzen-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory.