Pegge Joanne Dent Bays

September 27, 1932 -

March 23, 2020

Pegge was born in Ventura, California where she met and married her highschool sweetheart, Jim Bays. They attended college at Cal Poly, then moved to the East Coast and Germany while Jim was in the Army. After coming home to California, they bought a farm in Porterville where they raised their children. Sixteen years later, they moved to Montana and eventually bought a dryland farm between Big Timber and Rapelje.

Pegge was a great seamstress, quilter, gardener, and she loved to share her gifts with those around her. Her cooking abilities kept her busy with requests for her excellent jam, fruitcake, cookies, and chili relleno casserole. She absolutely loved small children, chickens, chocolate, and the memory of her Grandmother Dent. Pegge was loved by her family, friends, and the staff at Meadowlark Home.

She was preceded in death by her parents- Jack and Jeanette Dent, husband- James Clark Bays, and grandson- Cody Bays.

She is survived by her sister, Martha Spogen, four children- Kathleen (Casey) Ballard, John (Vanessa) Bays, Madeleine (Sterling) Ballbach, and Grace (Kimo) Moya. Grand children- Sadie Collins, Molly Marsall, Kelsey Jo Ballbach-Bowler, Kristen Tezak, and Seth Ballbach, Eli and Thatcher Barnes, Lauren, and Shea Tennison. And great grandchildren- Michael and Gweneth Collins, Granite, Ember and Bryson Bowler, Cooper and Mason Ballbach, Audry Tezak, and several nieces and nephews.

There will be a memorial service and celebration of Pegge's life later this summer.