By HDN Staff
LEE LUDWIG
CHESTER Lee Lawrence Ludwig, 75, died Friday, March 9, 2001 at a Lubbock, Texas medical center as the result of a heart attack.
Vigil prayer will be 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Rockman Funeral Chapel in Chester. Funeral Mass will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Chester. Burial will follow at the Chester Cemetery.
Ludwig was born May 25, 1925 at the family homestead south of Rudyard to Joseph and Theresa (Velcheck) Ludwig. He grew up and received his education in the Rudyard community. He graduated from Rudyard High School in 1943.
Ludwig enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944 and served in the Asiatic-Pacific campaign during World War II. He attained the rank of fire commander third class. He returned to Montana after his honorable discharge in 1946.
Ludwig married Barbara M. Pehlke on June 25, 1955 in Hingham. They farmed at Rudyard for five years and then moved to a farm south of Chinook. He began working for the telephone company in 1965 and they moved to Cut Bank and lived there for 11 years. They moved to Havre in 1976. Ludwig retired from Triangle Telephone Cooperative in Havre in 1988.
The Ludwigs purchased a home in Chester in 1992 to be closer to family. She died March 5, 1995 from cancer.
He continued to living in Chester and stayed active along the Hi-Line. On Aug. 5, 2000, he married Doris (Wilson) Welsh and they moved to the Fort Drum Court in Conrad.
Ludwig was a lifelong Catholic and attended church at Sacred Heart in Rudyard, St. Jude in Havre and St. Mary's in Chester. He was a member of the Elks, Eagles, VFW and other lodges.
He enjoyed dancing, traveling, golfing, hunting, fishing, playing cards and tinkering with electrical or woodworking projects in his garage. He also enjoyed family reunions, visiting with friends and making beef jerky.
Ludwig was preceded in death by his parents; first wife, Barbara Ludwig; brothers, Joe and Roger Ludwig; sister, Ethel Carr.
Survivors include his wife, Doris Ludwig of Conrad; daughter, Gail Matkin of Chester; sons, Joe Ludwig of The Netherlands and Steve Ludwig of Dickinson, N.D.; stepdaughters, Judy Larson of Conrad and Kathy Aspevig of Hungry Horse; brothers, Tom Ludwig of Chester and Ted Ludwig of Camarillo, Calif.; sisters, Virgie Toner of Gildford, Evelyn Little of Helena, Irene McMaster of Spokane, Wash., Ruth Simon of Seattle, and Lorraine Shirley of Big Spring, Texas; 10 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews.
