Margaret Joyce Titeca

Margaret Joyce Titeca, 86, of Shawmut, MT went to be with the angels on Nov. 7, 2023. She passed in Corvallis, MT near her family after a brief illness.

Joyce was born in Anaconda, MT on February 27, 1937, the eldest child of Fred and Jennie Else. A few days later and impatient to get home, Jennie gathered up her infant daughter and caught a ride on the mail stage to Wisdom. There they met Fred and drove 15 miles by team and sleigh to their home on the North Fork. They lived in a two room log cabin without running water or electricity but were surrounded by beautiful scenery, livestock and wildlife.

Joyce grew to love the ranch and at an early age, developed a special connection with horses. She was riding them nearly as soon as she could walk. By the age of five, she was riding horseback by herself two miles to and from a one room schoolhouse. She spent her childhood riding, doing ranch chores and playing with her sisters and cousins.

As a teen-ager, she fell in love and married a young man from North Dakota who was working on her aunt and uncle's neighboring ranch. They had four children—Wende, Tim, Clinton and Michael. After a few years, the family moved to Darby and bought a small ranch. Always a hard worker, Joyce milked her beloved Brown Swiss cows twice a day, sold milk and cream, raised a large garden and canned food for the winter months.

After her first marriage ended, she met Darwin Titeca, marrying him in 1965. They had one son, Kelly, and later, her treasured niece, Michelle, joined the family.

In 1989, Joyce, Darwin and Kelly moved to Shawmut where Darwin was originally from and bought a larger cattle ranch. Darwin died in 1997 but Joyce continued to live and work on the ranch until a few weeks before her death.

Joyce was a strong-willed and talented woman who was an accomplished artist, cook, seamstress, gardener, tree-planter, letter-writer and family historian. She will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her children, Wende and Allan Hoblitt of Sagel, ID; Tim and Karen Kidd of Darby, MT; Clinton Kidd of Darby, MT; Michael and Jodi Kidd of Wise River, MT; Kelly and Jennifer Titeca of Shawmut, MT; and Michelle and Dean Bohanan of Cheyenne, WY; her sisters, Gloria Weaver of Wisdom, MT and Robin Murphy of Challenge, CA; numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Darwin, and her sister, Donna.

Services will be held at a later date to be announced by her family.

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