E. Bernice Chestnut

She was born Etna Bernice Knudson to Lorena and BMR “Bert” Knudson, in Miles City, Montana. Bert was a homesteader, then successful rancher and county commissioner in Powder River County. His wife Lorena, nee Harris, was 16 years his junior. Bernie was proud of her dad as a child but worried about his health. She grew up as the youngest of three and ended up working as a ranch hand once the hired men went away to war. Her brother Lars, 10 years her senior, did not leave, since in those days the last remaining son was needed at home, and he was an excellent big brother and rancher himself, eventually taking over the whole place to raise three daughters of his own.

While growing up, Bernie attended a one room schoolhouse for elementary and middle school, which was six miles away by horseback. In first and second grade, when the weather was bad, her older sister would drop her off with nearby neighbors who would keep her for the night. They had a pedal powered reed organ they would let her play that she fondly remembered. In the Winter, her dad would pile sand against the walls of the house to keep the cold wind at bay. Her mother made fresh rolls almost every day which they ate with home churned butter. She attended high school in Miles City, boarding first with a relation there and then with someone nicer who treated her like their own daughter.

On to Montana State where she pledged Delta Gamma. She lived in the Quads and spoke of it as one of the happiest times of her life. Tasked with painting the big M on the mountainside, she and friends were accused by frat boys of being lazy. The penalty was being thrown in the creek. She remembered the frat boys as gentlemen since the girls were allowed to remove their watches before being tossed in.

She met a Sigma Chi named Wayne Chestnut who was about to join the Army through Officer’s Candidate School. They were married after he completed basic. He was deployed to El Paso, and she lived with his parents in Billings until their first child was born - naming him Todd. She joined Wayne in El Paso, living in a small sandy apartment difficult to keep clean while Wayne was housed on base as a second lieutenant. He was transferred to artillery and radar at the base in Hanford, Washington and they loaded up the Plymouth for the trek. One night they were at a drive-in theatre with the baby in the back seat and they and a lot of other soldiers from the base saw a cluster of UFOs on the horizon beyond the movie screen. That caused a lot of discussion at the time.

After Wayne’s tour was complete they moved to Billings where Wayne started an office equipment company and eventually became a stockbroker. They welcomed a second child who they named Scott, bought a Thunderbird and a HiFi. Bernie kept house and raised kids. She was a great mother who was always kind and like most great mothers dedicated herself to doing the best she could for her kids. She loved to ski and didn’t mind a mogul or two. She and Wayne took the kids to Red Lodge for skiing almost every weekend in the Winter. And in the Summer, days were spent at the Yellowstone club pool - the very picture of a successful suburban family in the 60s. They traveled quite a bit, skiing in Colorado and even Zermatt once and also sailing in the Caribbean. Wayne worked and played golf until he passed in 1995 and Bernie joined a group dedicated to the advancement of young women where she gained a whole new group of sisters.

She is preceded in death by her parents, son Todd (2018), her brother Lars (2015), and sister Vivian (1971). She is survived by son Scott, his wife Carrie and their children Caleb and Wyatt, also Todd’s children Justin and Jessica, Jessica’s husband Nelson Richlen and their son Anders Richlen, nieces and a nephew. Bernie passed peacefully March 10, 2023, with Scott at her side. Her life will be celebrated at an informal memorial at the Hilands club in Billings, at 12:30pm, Friday July 7, 2023.

Donations in her memory can be made to Family Promise - Billings.