William Bill Cutler

William Joseph "Bill" Cutler, 83, of Livingston, Montana passed away Thursday, May 25th, 2017. A celebration of Bills life will be held on Thursday, June 1st, 11:00 A.M. at the Franzen-Davis Chapel (118 North 3rd St.; Livingston). Graveside committal and burial will follow at Mountain View Cemetery. Reception will follow the burial at the St. Andrews Episcopal Church (310 W Lewis St, Livingston). Bill was born November 2, 1933. He grew up in Devils Lake, North Dakota, with his parents, Judith and Roy Cutler, and his brother, Lee. His only sister, Grace, died in infancy. When Bill visited Montana for the first time, he fell in love with the beauty of the mountains; to him this is what Heaven must have looked like. He later decided to attend Montana State University in Bozeman. A life-long fan of rodeo, he competed in bull-riding on the MSU rodeo team, and earned his BA in General Agriculture. He later returned to earn an MS in Range Management. Not long after graduating, he met Mary Jane Adkins, whom he married in 1957. Bill and Mary Jane raised their two children, Kathy and Steve (Lora) Cutler, in Lewistown. They fondly remember him as being the best dad a child could ever hope for. The family enjoyed many activities together, especially riding their horses. Bill also took up downhill skiing (a talent which had previously been limited to Scandinavian barrel skiing) so he could ski the beautiful Montana mountains with Steve and Kathy. Bill worked for the Federal Government, mostly at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), for 30 years before retiring. Only a couple of years after his retirement, Bill was seriously injured in an auto accident, which resulted in paralysis of both his legs. He was determined this setback would not define him, and he and Mary Jane enjoyed many years of travel, visiting 49 of the United States--all but Hawaii. In 2001, Bill and Mary Jane relocated from Lewistown to Livingston, where they have enjoyed living the past 16 years. In addition to his wife, son, daughter and daughter-in-law, Bill is survived by four grand-daughters: Alicia, Sydney, Rachel and Jessica. He also has two great grandsons, Ezeekial and Lucian. Arrangements are under the care of Franzen-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory.