Helen Margaret Bjelland

 Helen Bjelland, age 98, passed away on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in Conrad, Montana.

She was born Helen Margaret Offerdal on Sunday, Dec. 11, 1927, in Conrad, to Ole and Bergetta Offerdal. Her father immigrated to the United States from Norway in 1901. He homesteaded in Montana in 1909, planting roots 20 miles east of Conrad, where the family still resides.

Helen attended grade school and graduated from Conrad High School in 1946. She then moved to Missoula to attend the University of Montana, where she was part of the twirling club and enjoyed attending Cat-Griz games.

It was there she met James Bjelland of Glendive, and the two married in 1948. Following the wedding and reception at Pondera Valley Lutheran Church, Mr. and Mrs. Bjelland honeymooned in Banff, Canada, stopping in Whitefish, Montana, for the first time on their return home. That visit began a tradition of annual trips to Whitefish, where Jim and Helen would enjoy many vacations first with their children, then their grandchildren.

Helen and Jim were blessed with four children: Robert in 1949, Gary in 1951, Liann in 1952 and Jim in 1955. They raised their family on the farm, where they continued Ole’s stewardship of the land, now farmed by the third and fourth generation.

Outside the home, Helen served as a Cubs Scouts den mother and was active in Golden West Lutheran Church and Ladies’ Aid. She loved to read, especially history and biographies of Presidential families, and enjoyed shopping, listening to Lawrence Welk and polka music, and watching old movies like “Gone With the Wind” and Shirley Temple films. She kept an elegant home, appreciated a properly set holiday table, and saved stacks of Traditional Home and Victoria magazines for inspiration.

During harvest, the busiest time on the farm, Helen cooked three meals a day for her family and several hired hands. Her sons fondly remember specialties like Kool-Aid served in icy glass jars, fried egg sandwiches with onions and mustard, and her lemon cream cheese dessert. She was also infamous for cooking roasts on hot summer days in a house with no air conditioning.

In the late 1960s, Helen and Jim took up skiing at Teton Pass, kicking off a tradition that became a lifelong passion for many members of the family. Soon afterward, Jim bought a set of golf clubs with S&H Green Stamps. The family went out for a round one year after Easter dinner, and another family tradition was born.

Although there was no place like the farm, Helen and Jim enjoyed traveling together in their later years. They wintered in Palm Springs, California, and visited many destinations around the country.

Jim passed away in 2004. During the more than two decades she lived without him, Helen stayed active around town, spending time with her family, getting her hair done on Fridays, enjoying the mini breakfast at the Home Cafe, visiting the farm, and always keeping up her raspberry-colored lipstick.

Her grandchildren fondly remember her richly frosted chocolate brownies and sugar cookies, riding in her shiny Lincoln Town Car, posed family photos in every possible combination, and the sound of the farmhouse dinner bell calling everyone inside.

Over nearly a century of life rooted in the farm, Helen gathered a great deal of wisdom. She often clipped quotations from magazines and taped them inside her cupboards. One of her favorites was, “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.”

Helen was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Jim; and two older sisters, Doris (William) Vandal and Virginia (Eugene) Robinson. She is survived by her four children, Bob (Annette) Bjelland of Lewistown, Gary (Kay) Bjelland of Great Falls, Liann (David) Russell of Denver, and Jim (Chris) Bjelland Jr. of Conrad; eight grandchildren; and 13 great grandchildren.

A celebration of Helen’s life will be held at 11:00 am on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at Golden West Lutheran Church. Memorials may be given to Golden West Women or the Conrad Public Library.