Eddie Lou Stanchfield

Life isn't fair. It isn't fair that someone like my mother, so full of light and warmth, should be stricken with dementia, slowly losing herself. But, even as the disease progressed, there were moments when the clouds would part and that smile we all loved would shine through.

Eddie Lou Dupuis was born on October 3, 1941, in Sheridan, MT, but grew up in Melrose, part of a large and extended family. When she was nine she lost her father in a car accident, stepping in to help raise her younger brothers and sister while her mother took over the role of provider. She attended Beaverhead County High School where she excelled in academics and music, being one of the original Teen Tones as well as Prom Queen. It is also where she met her future husband, Dean Stanchfield, with whom she shared 65 years of marriage. After finishing high school she graduated from the Butte Business Academy and worked at Radio Engineering and, briefly, for the FBI, before settling down to raise her three children, their friends, nieces, nephews and grandchildren on the family ranch in Wise River. She served as the Clerk of School District 11 for decades as well as being Treasurer of the Wise River Woman's Club. She also was the Director of the Crazy Coyote Players, though she willingly admitted her role was mostly referee.

Eddie Lou was an exceptional artist, working with oil paints and other crafts, as well as a pianist who often provided music for the Church of the Bighole plus numerous weddings and gatherings. But her truest talents lay behind a stove. She was the type of cook who could feed twenty people with an hour's notice using whatever was in the pantry and never bother with a recipe. Her cooking was renowned throughout the area, a fact attested by various hay crews, brandings and preg testings, and at the annual Weed Whacker Ball, Eddie Lou's Pasties were legendary. No one, neither friend nor stranger, ever left our house hungry, and despite not drinking the stuff - she was a life-long tea drinker - made more pots of coffee through the years than most diners.

She loved her friends, her community and most of all her family. That is not to say that she didn't have a temper. We might have pretended to fear our father, but it was Mom with her threat of a HotWheels track to the backside that kept order in our house. She loved animals, caring for everything from dogs, cats and orphaned calves to woodchucks and guinea pigs, and once while still in grade school carried a bald eagle with a broken wing home, bundled in her coat. She was an exceptional horsewoman and was the official gate-watcher while cutting cows in from the field.

Her faith was unbreakable, and for ages taught Bible School every Wednesday afternoon. Her interests were varied, from a love of good books and history to looking for artifacts and rockhounding with Dean. She enjoyed listening to music, movies, and of course, watching reruns of Gunsmoke.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Fayle Dupuis and sisters Pauline Lenegar and Gloria Eighhorn, and by her husband, Dean Stanchfield. She is survived by brothers Russel and Dennis Dupuis, sister Vicky Heckford, sons Justin (Connie) and Matthew (Michele) Stanchfield, daughter Mikal Reese, grandchildren Caleb and Tyson Reese, Shealan Lange and Colter Dean; and Rachel Stanchfield, as well as great-grandchildren Juliet and Sylvia Lange, and Jed and Bowen Reese. And Winston. In December of last year, two days before Christmas, Dean passed away, leaving them apart for the first time in 65 years. Less than two months later, Eddie Lou passed away at home on February 7th, 2026, reuniting them after the brief separation.

Maybe some things in life are fair after all.

Cremation has taken place and a celebration of both of their lives is planned for later this year. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to us during this difficult time, and to all of the hospitals and staff who cared for her over the years, especially to the people at Trek Hospice for all that they did. Donations in her memory can be made to the Church of the Bighole.