Leo Stockton

Leo Stockton, 88, of Bozeman, formerly of Billings, passed away April 23, 2013 in Bozeman. He was born June 2, 1924 in Huntley, MT to William Lloyd and Sue (Buckner) Stockton. Leo spent his early years in Montana, Washington and Idaho. In his youth he worked as a farm hand, lumberjack and mechanic. Leo served in the United States Army during WWII as a Paratrooper in the 507 Infantry Company. He served in Normandy, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe. He was honorably discharged in 1945. After the war, Leo went back to the family farm, then to Idaho to work in the logging industry. He moved to Spokane, Washington in 1950 to work for Kaiser Aluminum. While in Spokane, he met Ruth Elizabeth McFate, and they were married August 11, 1951. The couple moved back to Billings in 1968. Leo worked at Billings White Freightliner as a Diesel Mechanic; he semi-retired in 1996 only working on Mondays in order to fund his sporting clay passion. He fully retired in 2000. Leo’s had many hobbies. Photography was his focus in the 70s and 80s, when he was the photographer for Miss Montana Pageants as well as weddings, graduations and sporting events. His interests over the years included all types of shooting sports, photography, woodworking, reading, computers and crossword puzzles. Leo even took up cooking and grilling after he retired. In earlier years with his wife and children, he enjoyed hunting, fishing and camping. When the children were grown, Ruth and Leo took many trips traveling throughout the Western United States as well as Canada. As mentioned earlier, he was a sporting clay fanatic, he and his friend Todd Gunderson built the stations used by the Sporting Clay Club. Leo spent many years “on the hill” designing and managing the course for different shoots and leagues the Club held. Leo competed in the Big Sky State Games for nearly 25 years winning many medals in the shotgun sports. Leo was preceded in death by his wife Ruth in 2006; Sister Leona (Depee) Peuck; Brother Don Depee. Survivors include his 2 daughters Gail (Ben) Yanker of Bozeman, MT, Ramona Stockton Crawford of Billings, MT; son Mark (Julie) Stockton of Gilbert, AZ; 9 grandchildren Christopher Yanker of Bozeman, Alisa (Trent) Lister of Bozeman, MT, Emily Yanker of Ledyard, CT, Richard (Gretchen) Crawford of Idaho Falls, ID, Travis (Johanna) Crawford of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, Mark Crawford of Billings, MT, Elizabeth Crawford, of Billings, MT, AJ Stockton of Gilbert, AZ, Kaylee Stockton of Gilbert, AZ; 2 great grandchildren Kristofer Crawford and Zane Lister; brother Gene (Donna) Hauf of Spokane, WA; sister-in-law Elaine Depee of Yuma, AZ, sister Shirley Baxter of Arizona and Joanne Birchwood. A graveside memorial service with military honors will be held 1:00 pm, Friday, July 5, 2013 at Sunset Memorial Gardens, 1721 Central Ave, Billings, Montana, followed by a reception and for those interested, a sporting clays shoot in his memory at the Billings Rod and Gun Club located west of Logan International Airport on the Rod & Gun Club Road at 2:30 pm.