Obituary: Becky Thurman

Becky Lee Thurman, born Aug. 12, 1948 in Helena, Mont. to Eugene Edward and Martha Lena (Foster) Youderian, passed away at her Lincoln home Feb. 6, 2022, at the age of 73.

As a small child she loved to play outside in the mud and splash in the creek. Later she would channel this delight with mud into a passion for making pottery.

Growing up on a ranch, she learned to ride at a very early age and never lost her interest in and love for horses. Summers were spent on horseback playing "Indians" riding bareback from first thing in the morning until being called in for supper at night. Throughout her life she enjoyed hiking, cross country skiing, backpacking and camping, but her favorite activity was always whatever could be done on horseback.

She participated in Brownie Scouts, Girl Scouts and 4-H and was a member of the Purple Sage Riders Drill Team.

Having survived early childhood relatively unscathed, she entered school in Lincoln's three-room schoolhouse in early September 1954, graduating 8th grade in 1962. She attended Augusta High School for two years then transferred to Billings West, graduating in May 1966. After that she worked for the Forest Service as a fire lookout on Dalton Mountain, Granite Butte and Silver King lookouts. She attended the University of Montana in Missoula.

She met her husband Alan Thurman, a Navy Pilot from Florida, when he and his brother were guests on a pack trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

They lived in Key West for a time but were transferred to another squadron and, after several training stops along the way, spent three years in Guam. While there, Alan was away on long deployments and Becky made many new friends among the Navy wives. She took every opportunity to travel and was fortunate enough to visit many places she'd only read about. Among her favorites were the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and mainland China where there was only one particular city open for visits by westerners, and some of the small Pacific Islands of war legend including Saipan. Becky and Alan had a wonderful time exploring Australia and New Zealand when they could vacation together.

They next spent nine years at Point Mugu in California where Becky worked for Morale, Welfare and Recreation Services, as well as volunteering hundreds of hours with the Navy Relief Society. She was a member of the Officer's Wives Club.