William Ottem, Jr

William J. (Bill) Ottem, Jr. passed away July 4th at the age of 83 after a brief illness. Bill was born on July 14, 1930 in Portland, Oregon to William Jennings Ottem, Sr. and Gladys Viola Hagan. He was an only child. He grew up and was educated in Billings until he and his mom moved to Missoula where he graduated from high school. With the help of ROTC, he graduated from MSU with a degree in architecture. During college, he met the first love of his life, Joanne Pippin, on a blind date in Billings. They were married on December 29, 1951. Two children were born to this union, Leanne in 1954 and Wade in 1960. After graduation Bill served 2 years at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. Afterwards, they returned to Billings where he worked for Orr Pickering & Associates. Following that he worked for Johnson, Graham & Associates Architects (JGA) where he eventually became a partner. He worked for JGA until his retirement in 1997. He truly loved his job and became friends with the many principals and superintendents of the Montana schools that he worked with. In 1960, Bill and Joanne bought a cabin that his uncle and aunt had built on the Stillwater River outside of Absarokee. Eventually it affectionately became called "Ottem's Roost". The family enjoyed many years of spending time at the cabin. He always looked forward to the family get-togethers at the cabin, as well as attending his grandkids' sports activities. His wife Joanne passed away in 1986. He married the second love of his life, Michelle Lynn “Mickey” Polen on August 17,1989. Through this union he became stepdad to Richard and Christine. Bill was a member of Billings Kiwanis for 45+ years. He served on the Board for 20+ years and was actively involved in their fundraising efforts with their annual fruit sales and for Special K Ranch. A special thanks to Bill Clagg for driving Bill to Kiwanis meetings after he could no longer drive. He was preceded in death by his parents, his in-laws Marge and Ep Pippin, and his son Wade. He is survived by his wife Mickey of the family home, his daughter Leanne (Ernie) Dutton of Billings, stepson Richard (Angela) Polen of Billings, stepdaughter Christine (Josh) Guisti of Las Vegas, Nevada, As well as grandchildren Carly (Charlie) Lusky of Billings, Katie Dutton of Billings, Cody Dutton of Seattle, Washington, Tristan and Shea Polen of Bozeman, Coy Polen of Billings and Kariann Polen of Billings. We want to thank the caring staff at St. John's Transitional Care Cottage for their loving care of Bill during the last weeks of his life. Cremation has taken place. A celebration of his life will take place Tuesday, July 8th at 11 a.m. at Dahl Funeral Chapels. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made the Special K Ranch, P.O. Box 479, Columbus, MT, 59019 or the charity of choice. Memories may be shared with the family at www.dahlfuneralchapel.com.