Angelu "Lu" Pugrud

On June 11, 2012, Angelu "Lu" Pugrud a lifetime member of the Winnett community, peacefully passed away while staying at a primary care facility in Billings. Born in 1929, Lu was raised on the Tripp family homestead in Flatwillow, Montana. The youngest of five children she spent her summers working in the fields with horse teams. Lu always enjoyed music, singing and dancing which was one of the mainstays of the Tripp family homestead life. She loved horses and spent many hours riding for work and fun. In 1947 she met the man of her dreams and on Valentine's Day 1948 she married Tom Pugrud and started their journey through life. Tom worked the oil fields and so they moved from job to job in Montana and Wyoming. In 1956, they moved to Flatwillow to help her father Harry run the ranch. Lu and their three children lived and worked at the ranch while Tom continued with road construction work for a couple more years. In 1960 Tom and Lu took over the ranch from Harry, who was ready to retire. Tom and Lu were a team in their ranch, sharing in all aspects of the operation. Lu always preferred the outdoors and loved her time with horses or cattle. Her summers were spent working the cows, helping in the hay fields or grain fields along with Tom and the kids. She was an avid horeman always enjoying her time riding. But when the time came to replace the horses with motorcycles and four wheelers she proved to be just as apt at working cattle with them. Tom and Lu greatly improved the cattle herd by crossbreeding and were among the first to breed Simmental, which became the mainstay of the their operation. Lu would work with books on the cattle, keeping track of all the details; not an easy task in the years before computers. These records were key in herd development as they were used to select replacement cows and determine which bulls to utilize. She was never one to sit idle, so when not busy with normal ranch activities, she would set off on other projects. In winter she'd be knitting, crocheting, reading or bulding up the family photo albums. When spring broke she'd set to work on her flower gardens which would become an oasis of colors. Lu and Tom valued education and succeeded in getting all their kids thorugh college even through some rough, lean years on the ranch. Through out their life together Pugruds were active in the community. They were always counted on to help whether it was the Flatwillow Hall, the Flatwillow School, the Winnett Schools, or a neighbor. One of her big delights was helping in assembling the history of Petroleum County, which was published as "Pages of Time". There was always good wild game hunting on the ranch and Lu and Tom rarely turned a hunter away. Their hospitality garned many friends who returned annually, not only for the hunt, but to also enjoy her hospitality. A great shot herself,the family supplemented their meals with deer meat for several years and she was an authority on where the wildlife were most likely to be found. Lu's kitchen was a welcoming, comfortable place where everyone always gathered and no one was a stranger. Many diverse people seemed to find their way to that little isolated kitchen and became lifelong friends. Lu and the family cherished those freindships. She was preceded in death by her parents Harry and Hallie Tripp and her siblings Ralph Tripp, Ruth Iverson Laugeman, Richard Tripp and JoAnn Tripp Correa. Mrs. Pugrud is survived by her husband Tom Pugrud; sons Phil (Lisa) Pugrud and John (Jessica) Pugrud; daughter Sigrid Pugrud; grandchildren Chris Pugrud, Angie Bell and Scott Pugrud; great grandchildren Kalea Nyby, Jaida Nyby, Lexyes Bell, Landyn Bell and Orick Pugrud; as well as many nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00am Saturday June 16, 2012 at the Flatwillow Community Hall.

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