BILLINGS - This Halloween retired Mountview Cemetery manager in Billings, Lee Stadtmiller, takes us on a cemetery tour to show us where the bodies are buried. He retired on Halloween day back in 2018 after nearly 19 years on the job.
“A lot of the movers or shakers down through the decades are all buried here,” said Stadtmiller. “Alberta Bair is in the mausoleum.”
Alberta Bair is a familiar name as residents frequent the Alberta Bair Theater. Also in the mausoleum is Alberta’s sister, Marguerite, who is entombed nearby and memorialized forever on Marguerite Boulevard on the city’s West End.
“The guy who originally had the idea of the mausoleum is in the mausoleum. That’s Arthur Rankin, a first cousin to Jeannette Rankin,” said Stadtmiller. “Paul McCormick and his family are in the mausoleum.”
Paul McCormick’s historic cabin is also the front door to the Yellowstone County Museum by the Billings airport.
“A famous madam is in the mausoleum. She had several names. She’s buried under Olive McDaniels. Ollie is kind of what I referred to her as,” said Stadtmiller.
Stadtmiller said no matter what your name is, there are still plenty of plots to be purchased and only one qualification to be buried amongst the movers and shakers of times passed.
“They have to die,” laughed Stadtmiller.
More than 24,000 people are buried at Mountview Cemetery. The cost of a grave site ranges from $900 to $1,500.
