Lynnis "Red" Clinton

On December 30th, 2025, Red Clinton age 71 was called Home by her Savior Jesus Christ. She passed away peacefully with the sun shining warmly on her face and her husband of 54 years, John Clinton by her side at Barrett Hospital. She was deeply devoted to her family, her church, her faith and her Country.

Born February 5, 1954, Lynnis DiAnne Misner was the fourth child of five born to Lewis Donald Misner and Betty Joan (Dye) Misner in Tulsa Oklahoma. Lynnis' grandma Winnie introduced her to a handsome man named John Clinton, the son of Katheryn and J.I. Clinton, and once the two young kids began dating John gave Lynnis the nickname "Red" due to her long beautiful red hair. John and Red fell in love and were married June 25, 1971, at the First Assembly of God Church in Sand Springs, OK. The first few years of their marriage were an adventure for the young couple, traveling with best friend Bill Johnson in tow. The trio traveled around Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Montana. One time John and Red moved all the way to Alaska, but it was just too far away from family, and they swiftly made their way back home. John and Bill would work in the oil fields at times and other times working on ranches and in construction. Red enjoyed the ranch work the most as she loved being around the horses, cows, and chickens. She loved horseback riding, and to the chagrin of her husband and her ranch boss' wife, was found riding bareback out in a meadow when she was 8 months pregnant with their first son Jeremiah. Between moving around trying to find the perfect place to plant their roots, they always managed to make it back to the Tulsa area where their three children would be born. Jeremiah Malachi being the first, born on March 8, 1974. When Jeremiah was still a baby, they made the journey to Dillon, MT where John and Bill were hired to build the main ranch house on the Selkirk Ranch, currently the Matador Ranch. After another move back to Oklahoma where they remained for years to come, John and Red welcomed their second son Joshua Micah on March 26, 1978. On December 26th, 1979, after being weeks over due, they welcomed the baby of the entire family Johnna Michal. She was the youngest baby born on both sides of the Clinton and Misner family and naturally was the most spoiled by all the family! John and Red continued to raise their children amongst the large family that centered around them in Oklahoma. In that time Lynnis worked as a Human Resource Manager for oil and gas equipment company C-E Natco, in Tulsa where she was recognized Nationally for her dedication to the advocation of fair wages and benefits to the hard-working men and women in the industry. Later when the company was looking to relocate, she was offered a substantial promotion, but it meant moving to Wyoming, and she just wasn't ready to take her young family away from the roots that she and John shared. After leaving C-E Natco, she found herself working in another HR management role at Rockwell Aviation, an aerospace manufacturing presence at Air Force Plant 3 near Tulsa International Airport. In the years between her careers John built their dream home across the road from John's father's farm in Osage, County. It was these years living so close to the farm, their kids were able to explore the woods, learn to swim in their grandpa's pond, fish for bass and catfish, hunt deer, ride horses, and celebrate the 4th of July every summer with a pig roast with all of their immediate and extended families in which attendance would reach into the 100's at times. By the fall of 1985 John and Red made the difficult decision to relocate their family to Dillon, MT to continue raising their kids in the beautiful mountains and a small-town life. They moved during a winter storm and made it to Dillon on Dec. 22nd, 1985, where their first Montana Christmas was spent at Bill's house. After settling into their own home a few weeks later, the kids quickly made friends thanks to John and Red already having made friends from the prior years of living in Dillon. Those couples also had children close in age to the Clinton kids. In a small town like Dillon, when a new family moves in from another state, word quickly spreads, people are curious, and soon introductions are made and new friendships are created. These friendships became lifelong bonds for both John, Red, Jeremiah, Joshua, and Johnna. John worked for several years alongside Bill at the Stoltz sawmill. He drove wood chip trucks from the mill in Dillon to the paper mill in Drummond until the sawmill shut down. Lynnis found work at the Clerk and Recorder's office where she remained employed until 1998. Her favorite part of her job was helping old miners research old mining claims and records as they were setting out to prospect new ground. As a thank you gift for Red's hard work, one miner gave her two raw Montana sapphires. One of which was cut and mounted in a ring for her daughter Johnna and given to her on her 18th birthday the other was given to her sister Penny because it matched her August birthstone. The winter of 1988 was hard for the Clinton family. After the sawmill shut down, there was little work and Red's wages working at the county were not enough. The family moved back to Oklahoma, but the economy there was just as bad as Montana's, so the family set out for California. John's brother Steve owned a construction company and, in the Oakland/Antioch area the business was booming with housing developments popping up all over the Delta. While the work was good, and the kids were able to experience an entirely different kind of lifestyle, the mountains began calling the family back, and by that summer the Clinton's were back home in Montana and would remain until all three of their children had graduated high school. Finally, after living in Dillon for over 20 years the Clinton family was finally considered "locals". Lynnis was passionate about the electoral process and became an election judge for many years, often training new election judges around the county. She was a huge advocate for educating young adults with the importance of exercising their right to vote. She partnered up with Beaverhead County High School Government and History teachers Mr. Tedd Stanisich and Mr. Russ Fisk to come into the classroom and register all the students that were 18 years old to vote. She figured if she came to them, she would reach more young voters than if they left it up to themselves to do it. It was a service that Mr. Stanisich and Mr. Fisk acknowledged for many years even after they retired from teaching. One career path that Red explored was running for County Commissioner. She assembled a campaign team and put her high heels to the pavement campaigning throughout the county. She was a strong candidate due to her tenacity, strong work ethic, and much experience gained through her many years working in the Clerk and Recorder's office next door to the Commissioner's chambers. She was such a strong candidate that she was endorsed by many county officials as well as Governor Judy Martz, the 21st Governor of the state and the first female Governor of Montana. She was so good, that she even got a diehard Democrat to vote for a Republican that year! Although she did not win the election, she made her family, friends, co-workers, and supporters so immensely proud of her efforts. Little did she know, she became a role model for young girls everywhere that women have a place in government and are absolutely capable of being strong, successful leaders. Red retired from the county and was able to spend more time with her kids. By being home, she got to know what it was like being the mom of her college student sons Josh and Jeremiah who were both attending Montana State University. She had the privilege of helping Jeremiah and his fiancé Alaina Peterson plan their wedding and help Johnna navigate the daunting task of applying for college, preparing for graduation and Prom... probably the hardest chore of all! Red was her kids' biggest cheerleader. She could be heard over the loudest crowds cheering for Jeremiah when he was a junior boxer in Oklahoma, and at his high school wrestling matches, Joshua at his football games, and track tournaments, and just showing up and being supportive of Johnna's cheer. By 1997 the Clinton's and many more supporters had built two homes in Dillon. After one house had sold the family settled down in the house next door to neighbor and best friends Phyillis and Tom Welch. Due to a shoulder injury, John was no longer able to do carpentry work. He found work with a construction company based out of Minnesota. The pay and benefits were too good to pass even though it meant living away from home and his family for weeks at a time. But the new job gave the family renewed financial stability for years to come. When John had time off and came home, he was always welcomed with open arms, lots of laughs and catching up with the life of his family while he was away. The summer of 1998 after Johnna graduated and was 18, Red began to travel with her husband. She loved being in new places, and finally having time with her husband, just the two of them. The kids loved having the house all to themselves; they followed the rules, mostly and the Welch's kept a close eye on things too! Once the final kid was off to college, the second family home was sold and Red began to travel with John full time. It is like they came full circle from their first years of marriage, wandering the country with barely anything in an old Jeep to roaming from state to state in a travel trailer and a big o'l truck, and a cat! Lynnis quickly got bored of hanging out with her cat Jasmine, day in and day out and found a temporary staffing agency that hired her for an administrative role for Oak Ridge Associated Universities in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. Her job was to assist former employees of the ORAU defense manufacturing plants, by enrolling them in compensation and health benefit programs. Her favorite part of her job was hearing the stories of Veterans and former plant workers and how their roles helped shape America. Red's job enabled her to work remotely so it was a perfect fit for her to maintain her sense of independence and keep her skills sharp while traveling with John. John's projects took them to Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Colorado. Through their travels John and Red became avid collectors of all things old and unique. Red loved a good bargain and never missed an opportunity to hit up a garage sale! She and Johnna spent many summer Saturdays perusing the classifieds and hunting signs on light posts for Dillon's yard sales. She even got her friend Cindy Doering hooked on it! It did not matter what an item was worth, but if Red got it for a $1.00 or twenty-five cents she would brag about her bargain find for days! John and Red really did enjoy going "junkin'" together and began to have fun with each other again after raising three kids over three decades of their marriage. The last of John's projects kept them in Denver for the remainder of his career. Red was able to work out of an ORAU satellite office and made quick friends with her boss Wendy. Wendy introduced Red to the best salons in town and soon she began to pamper herself with manicures, pedicures, and regular visits to her favorite hair stylist to keep her long, red locks as beautiful as always. Red only cut her hair short once in her life and it was suiting for her for a brief time. When she began to grow it back out, a year later she had a braid 2 inches thick and 3 ft long and she was very proud of it! When she wasn't working, her favorite hobbies besides spa days and going to flea markets were making jewelry and ceramics. She was a long-time student in Valerie Briggs' ceramics classes when she lived in Dillon full time and made many wonderful treasures! Her favorite part of making jewelry was giving it away to anyone that wanted it and loved it as much as she did. She found treasures, she made treasures, she was a treasure! By 2012 Red was still working remotely but had decided that she was ready to stay home on a permanent basis. By then the hard work the couple, along with family and friends, put into building their forever home up on Cave Gulch had paid off and they had a home worthy of all the creature comforts and the technology for Red to continue her work. John retired from construction project management in September 2012 and joined his wife to spend the rest of their days working on the house and maintaining their property. It was their dream, and they made it happen. Sadly, disease has a wicked way of cutting our dreams short. Red was happiest at her home, and she was proud of it, but the isolation began to take its toll over the past few years when her beautiful mind began to fail her. She was diagnosed with dementia and although her body was still a perfect specimen of what a 71-year-old woman could be, and her heart remained forever young, her mind was becoming more of a shell of her former self. She struggled with memory problems as-is-with dementia, her personality began to change, and she became more withdrawn from the very people she loved the absolute most. It was very difficult for everyone that loved Red to see her declining in this way. So, on the sunny day of December 30, 2025, after her kids, grandkids, and devoted husband of 54 years said their goodbyes, Jesus came to bring the beautiful wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin and friend Home. She was ready, and we had to let her go.

Lynnis DiAnne (Misner) Clinton is preceded in death by her parents Lewis Donald and Betty Joan (Dye) Minser, of Tulsa, OK, her oldest brother Edward Ray Misner of Broken Bow, OK, Father-in-Law Jonathan Isaiah Clinton of Sand Springs, OK, Brother-in-Law John Elsworth Utter of Owasso, OK, Brother-in-Law Steven Dean Clinton of Mexico Beach, FL, Mother-in-Law Kathryn Collene (Moore/Clinton) Graves and Step Father-in-Law Floyd Euguene Graves both of Dillon, and Great Neice Jasmine Nichole Schneider of Sand Springs, OK, as well as the numerous grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins of her extensive family.

She is survived by her husband John Dennis Clinton of Dillon, MT, sons Jeremiah Malachi Clinton (Alaina) of Spokane, WA, Joshua Micha Clinton (Erin) of Hamilton, MT, and Johnna Clinton Roscoe (Toby) of Polaris, MT, five beautiful grandchildren, Malachi Isaiah, Asher Lane, Myka Fay, twins Kira DiAnne and Quin Dennis, two grand dogs Annie and Lucy Roscoe, Sister-in-Law Janna (Worthy) Clinton of Langley, OK, aunt Linda Miller of Tulsa, OK, two sisters Susan L. Utter, of Owasso, OK and Penny (Johnny) Parrish of Sand Springs, OK, and brother Richard L. (Betty) Misner of Tulsa, OK, as well as 8 Nieces and one Nephew; Joey (Scott) Baker, Eddy (Erika) Utter, Shannon (Donnie) Hammond, Rebecca (Michael) King, Heather (Shane) Ham, Crystal (Robert) Schneider, Johnnie Nichole Parrish, Christen Archer, Stephanie Clinton, and many, many, more great and great-great nieces and nephews, cousins, and in-laws. She is also survived by long time family friends Bill Johnson and his son Billy (Jessica) Johnson of Dillon, Jody (Gary) Marks of Bozeman, Carolyn (Ron "Mogie") Mogus, Phyllis (Tom) Welch, Pug (Glenn) Leavitt, Holly Ricks Miller, Janet (Glenn) Merenz, Sharon (Tom) Rice, Cindy (Jim) Doering, Leighanne (Butch) Clark, and Sharon (Steve) Moorehouse, all of Dillon, Linda (Jim) Wolfe of Butte, and Cindy Hegglund Weir (Bill) of Buckeye, AZ. All her church and bible study friends were such a huge part of her life, and you are not forgotten! Her family is forever grateful to each and every one of you that touched their lives because you loved Red so much and knew how special she truly was. Thank you all for the overflowing amount of support and condolences these past few weeks. The family would like to invite everyone that knew and loved Red to share their favorite stories and memories of her on the Brundage Funeral Home's website so that a memory book can be compiled and shared at her celebration of life ceremony that will be held in Dillon, MT later this spring or early summer. https://www.brundagefuneralhome.com/obituaries/lynnis-clinton