John Roberts Mobley

John Roberts Mobley, 85, died peacefully at home the afternoon of May 27, 2021 with daughter Meg and wife Dee nearby. Having survived both lung cancer and vocal cord cancer, he was unable to withstand pancreatic cancer.

The second son of Herb Sr and Marie Roberts Mobley, John was born in Greybull, WY on January 24, 1936. Raised near Shell, WY in the shadow of the Big Horn Mountains, he learned very early to work hard – a trait that defined him for the next 65 years of ranching, first with his brother Herb Jr at Ashland, MT and later with wife Dee and family at Powderville and Olive, MT.

John studied engineering at the University of Wyoming and at age 20 went to Aurora, Illinois to work on Caterpillar machinery design for Fox Valley Engineering. But the call of the soil was insistent and he returned to the Ashland ranch of cattle, irrigated hay and corn. He and Herb, with an opportunity (and a huge mortgage), formed a partnership to buy out their folks. Years later in 1970, John and Dee bought the Blackburn/Harvey Carter ranch near Powderville, raising dryland wheat and market hogs, eventually transitioning over to cattle again. Expanding in 1976, they bought the Newman Hall Ranch near Olive, moving there in 1977 so Julie and Paul could attend school in Broadus.

The final piece to John's ranch building project was adding the adjacent Lyle Lockwood property in 2008. He relished challenges and was an innovative farmer and an astute marketer of both wheat and cattle. Until computers, he could fix anything!

Methodical in his speech, John surprised and charmed many with his understated sharp wit. His children and grandchildren carry memories of a trickster's gleam in his eyes as well as many patient fishing lessons.

Although he admittedly worked too hard without many vacations, John enjoyed taking his family back to his old stomping grounds in the Big Horns, camping in a tepee and fly fishing in Shell Creek and the Tongue River headwaters, and also in the northern part of Yellowstone Park. He also hunted elk, moose, and even a buffalo with Paul, along with deer, antelope, and game birds at home. Hunting, fishing, furniture construction, sausage-making (we finally started hiding some of the meat after 150 lb sessions) and gardening/landscaping – he was good at all that he enjoyed.

Leaving a legacy of a good reputation for honesty, integrity, and hard work, John found time in earlier years to participate on the Colstrip School Board, ASCS committees, Masonic positions, and UCC church boards.

He leaves behind his wife of 56 years, Delores (Dee) Westman Mobley, a Minnesota Swede he chased, caught, and married on September 26, 1964; daughter Julie Bilbrey of Shell, WY and her sons Jason Madsen of Olive and Jaden Bilbrey of Sterling, CO and her daughter Jackee Madsen (Derek) Smith of Corvallis, MT; son Paul and daughter-in-love Kristi of Olive and their sons Logan (Morgan Weller) of Broadus, MT and Luke of Chicago, IL; daughter Megan Mobley and son-in-law Dave Bell and their daughter Geneva of Corvallis, OR; and one great granddaughter, Sterling Smith. Also surviving John are his brother Herb Mobley Jr and his wife Beth of Billings, MT (and Shellman Bluff, GA), brother-in-law Harold Safgren of Rapid City, SD, sister-in-law Corinne Darrow of Custer, SD, two nieces and two nephews, and a few cousins. Preceding John in death were his parents, many cousins, two sisters-in law, Bunny Mobley and Shirley Safgren, a brother-in-law, Don Darrow, and a son-in-law, John Bilbrey.

With family in attendance, John was laid to rest out in the high hills of the ranch early on May 28, 2021, in a beautiful pine coffin handcrafted by son Paul and branded with Mobley Land's "HZ" on the lid by grandsons Jason and Logan. The sun shone brightly, white puffy clouds floated overhead, and a meadowlark sang and sang and sang from a nearby pine tree.

In celebration of John's life, a gathering will be planned later this summer for family, friends, and neighbors.