Anna M. McCallum

Anna Eustice McCallum August 30, 1921 -- November 30, 2022 We have just reached a heartbreaking milestone marking the passage of time. The remarkable five generations of the Eustice family was reduced to four with the passing of our Matriarch. On November 30th, 2022 at approximately 8pm, Anna Eustice McCallum, our mother, grandmother great-grandmother and great- great-grandmother passed away peacefully after recently turning 101 years old. She left us all wishing we had more time to spend with this amazing woman. She led an extraordinary life and left her influence on everyone who had ever had the pleasure of knowing her. Anna ran away from an abusive home in North Dakota when she was just 14 years old. She walked ten miles to her aunt's home and together they headed for Butte, Montana. It's hard to imagine doing that at just 14, taking off like that and never looking back. When she arrived at Butte, she took a job as a live-in housekeeper/nanny where she lived for several years until she met and married Ray Eustice. They then set about creating and raising a family consisting of three boys and one girl. Though they had little, (Ray was a miner and later a self- taught electrician) The kids had a great childhood growing up in Butte. There are many great memories of all of the family activities done together. There are constant flashback memories of Anna bustling about in the kitchen in their home in Centerville canning just about everything you can imagine, making jam and jelly, baking bread, cooking dinner, making chokecherry wine ("choke being the operative word. It was horrible. One sip and you couldn't stop puckering for a week.), or preparing for a camping trip. That may sound like it's making her out to be the stereotypical housewife but, Anna was anything but typical. After most of the kids were out of the house (Annette was still at home) and pursuing their own futures, Anna and Ray realized their retirement dream and bought a small ranch on the Jefferson River, just south of Whitehall. There they set about doing everything they dreamed of doing. They raised cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys and just about every animal you can imagine being on a ranch (at one time or another). Anna had her huge garden (the root cellar was well supplied with more than enough vegetables to get them through the long Montana winters) and Ray planted and grew alfalfa to feed the livestock. Make no mistake about it though, on the ranch Anna was the boss. When she went out to do her chores she always carried a stick. All the animals (and humans) would cut her a wide path as she walked around feeding one group of animals after another. When she would go into the pig pen to feed the pigs they would see her coming packing her stick and they would all scamper to the far side of the pen. Hungry as they were, they stayed there until she closed and locked the gate behind her on her way out. Yep, she was the boss! You've all heard of the saying "That person is tough enough to beat a grizzly with a twig". Well, if you're from Montana you have. Anyway, the closest we've ever come to seeing that happen was on the ranch. It wasn't a grizzly though, it was a 1,800 to 2,000 lb. bull and it wasn't just any person...it was Anna with a broomstick (not on one, packing one). Ray had borrowed that bull to breed their cows and the family was admiring it in the corner of the upper field. It was an amazing animal. It just happened that at that particular time the neighbor was bringing several of his cows down in his field to breed as well. They were just on the other side of our fence and across the road. That bull got a whiff of those cows and got real frisky. He started goring the heck out of a bush just next to the fence. Pretty soon Anna quietly headed to the barn. Next thing she comes walking out of the side door of the barn into the field packing a broomstick. Without hesitation this five-foot nothing ball of fire walked over to that bull and started wailing on his backside. Everyone thought the next thing to do would be to drag her corpse off of the field. That old bull took a look at her and everyone thought it was all over. But, all of a sudden it became obvious that bull's attitude had changed. It was like he was thinking, "Nope! I don't want any part of her!" That bull took off for the other end of the field just as tame as you please. Anna crawled through the fence and came over to the family like nothing had happened. She was asked what she thought she was doing. She said she didn't want that bull to damage the fence so she wanted to stop him. She then just went about her business. Yeah, it wasn't a grizzly and she didn't have a twig but, damn, she was tough! Anna's family was her pride and joy. She took great pleasure in being a part of their lives. Anna was preceded in death by her husband, Ray Eustice. She later married Carl McCallum and he also preceded her in death. She is survived by her sons and daughter Dave Eustice (Peggy), Dale Eustice (Rene), Steve Eustice, Annette Eustice and their children and grandchildren: Dave's children and grandchildren: Christy Eustice; Dana Ryan (Adam) and their children Kayla Ryan and Todd Ryan; Scott Eustice (Heather) and their children: Brittany, Christian, Devin and Keanu Eustice. Dale's children, grandchildren and great grandchildren: Amy Baker (Christian). Their children and grandchildren; Kelsey Farrell (Kory). Their children: Hudson, Paityn and Harlow Farrell; Jordan Carney (Liam) and their son Braxton Carney; Megan Baker and her daughter Everlee Baker; Rachael Abelin (Ryan). Their children: Lindsey and Isaac Abelin; Jenny Eustice and her son Ryan Eustice (Tatum). Steve's children: Chris Eustice (Kaelyn) and Ben Eustice. Annette's children: Erin Perry (Andrew). Their children: Emma and Aidan Perry; Kelly Webster and her daughter Alexis Webster. Our hearts are now filled with grief and sadness but those emotions will come with a smile on our faces as we remember this remarkable woman. As time goes by the grief and sadness will fade, although never completely, and the smiles will dominate as we remember our Mother/Grandmother/Great Grandmother/Great GreatGrandmother with the joy of having had this amazing person in our lives. As they said of Betty White when she passed shortly before her 100tn birthday, "You were taken far too soon!" We all love you and we'll miss you terribly.

Tributes

Anna M. McCallum

August 30, 1921 - November 30, 2022