KIRBY - Torrey Benton Johnson, 86, of Kirby, Mont., passed away Dec. 26, 2002, in Hardin.  His life represents the last of an era of the cowboy, roundup wagons, chasing wild horses and ranching that will never be seen again.

He was born Dec. 6, 1916, at the Big Red Ranch, Ucross, Wyo., the fifth of seven children to parents William Victor Johnson and Jessamine Spear Johnson.  The family moved to the X4 Ranch at Kirby in 1917.  He attended high school in Hardin and later Sheridan, Wyo.  His college years were at the University of Montana and the University of Chicago.

Torrey worked as a wrangler, guide and trapper from 1931 to 1938 at the family dude operation, the Spear O Wigwam in the Big Horn Mountains south of Sheridan.  He learned to play the guitar and sing a few songs for fun around the evening campfires.  While at the University of Chicago, he won an amateur contest to play and sing for the Warner Brothers Theater at Oak Park every evening at 9 p.m.  It helped pay for his education.

Throughout his life, Torrey entertained parties, crowds and official gatherings with his guitar and repertoire of approximately 450 western and Spanish songs.  On many of those occasions, his brothers, Brad, Bill and Vic, and sisters, Annabelle, Phyllis and Eileen, accompanied him.

Torrey was past president of the Big Horn County Livestock Association for four years and president of the Big Horn County Farm Bureau for two years.  He served on the Executive Committee of the Montana Stockgrowers Association from 1968 to 1972 and was elected president of the Association in 1984.  In a special general election held in November of 1971, Torrey was elected from District 1 as a member of the Montana Constitutional Convention and assisted in rewriting the present Constitution for Montana, which was ratified in 1972.

He learned to fly in 1943, using various aircraft to check cattle, fences and fly for machinery repairs for ranch equipment.  Torrey was past president of the Montana Flying Farmers and Ranchers Association and helped establish the International Flying Farmers and Ranchers Association.

Torrey and Chet Huseman were contracted by the Big Horn National Forest in the 1930s to plant fish in many of the high mountain lakes of the Cloud Peak Wilderness area, using the family packhorses from the Spear O Wigwam.

Among Torrey's many other lifelong activities were the Big Horn County Republican Central Committee, Big Horn Livestock Hall of Fame, Al Bedoo Shrine and the Black Horse Patrol.

On March 28, 1940, he married Adrienne Marie Henderson at Hyattsville, Md.  Together they ranched at Kirby until 1998 when Adrienne passed away.  They had been married 58 years and raised five children; Sandra, Robin, Jocelyn (Jolly), Phillip and Tempe.

Survivors include his children, Sandra (George) Smith of Banner, Wyo., Robin (Kate) Johnson of Billings, Jolly (Lyle) Tyler of Wyola, Phillip (Colleen) Johnson of Helena and Tempe (Hal) Javitz of California; his grandchildren, Kelly (Natalie) Peabody, Gina (John) Stevens, Wendy (Kevin) Lloyd, Brody Johnson, Addy (Toby) Larson, Therese Johnson, Merit (Blaine) Etzel, Benton Johnson, Khale Century Tyler, Jordan and Ashley Tyler, Tori (Jamie) Gleich, Gwendolyn (Tom) Felstet, Jennifer E. Johnson, Phillip and Jacob Javitz; his great-grandchildren, Kassie and Kelsey Peabody, Hannah and Jarron Lloyd, Lauren and Katie Gleich and Sidney Felstet, as well as numerous relatives.

The family would especially like to thank the staff of Heritage Acres Nursing Home of Hardin for the care they gave our Dad. It is greatly appreciated.  Also a big thank you to everyone who stopped in to visit him.

Cremation has taken place in the Bullis Eastern Montana Crematory.  Memorial Funeral Mass will be celebrated 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3, 2003, in the St. Peters Episcopal Church in Sheridan, Wyo.  Private disposition of the ashes will follow the services.  Bullis Mortuary of Hardin has been entrusted with the arrangements.  Should friends desire, memorial contributions may be made to the Shriners Crippled Children's Transportation Fund, Heritage Acres Nursing Home of Hardin, Montana Stockgrowers or the Big Horn County Museum.