Frank Lloyd Ingraham
RONAN — Lloyd Ingraham, 88, passed away on Aug. 10, 2014, not far from his birthplace where his pioneer grandparents put down roots a century ago. He died of complications following a tractor accident while tending his golf course on Terrace Lake Road east of Ronan.
Frank Lloyd was born Oct. 28, 1925, to Anna and Hugh Ingraham in Pablo. Lloyd was an “up-from-the-bootstraps-man.” He graduated from Ronan High School at age 16. His first job was at the Dupuis Sawmill, but using his hard work and intellect, he became a “country lawyer” who took a case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1948 he married his wife of 66 years, the former Irma May “Peggy” Frisbie. They raised a family of six children and traveled the world. Lloyd lived life to its fullest and was an inspiration to many, but his most cherished role was that as patriarch of a large family. Although scattered across the country, his family visits frequently and all still call Montana home.
Lloyd often recounted a boyhood memory of rising at 3 a.m. to do early milking chores so he could walk the six miles to view the opening ceremony for Kerr Dam. As one of the “fighting Ingrahams” of Pablo, he won the Golden Gloves Championship and went onto pro boxing. From there he went to the Air Transport Corps and later helped form the Peruvian International Airways, based in Lima.
Lloyd met and married Peggy in Los Angeles in 1948. After starting their family, Lloyd and Peggy returned to Ronan, where Lloyd operated Texaco’s bulk oil distribution business and built and leased three gasoline stations. His next vision was to buy and develop an island on Flathead Lake now known as King’s Point. It was that calculated risk that gave him the resources to attain his dream of becoming a lawyer. At age 38, Lloyd moved back to Los Angeles with Peggy and their six children (ages 1 through 14) to attend law school. A year before he graduated, he traveled to Helena to undertake the unusual challenge of sitting for and passing the Montana Bar Examination, and then returned to complete his degree. He began his legal practice in Lake County with the firm that became Christian, McCurdy, Ingraham and Wold. He later began his own private practice in Ronan where his son, Greg, joined the firm in 1985. Lloyd’s hard work was directed towards achieving one of his personal triumphs — ensuring that all six of his children graduated from college. He retired from full-time practice in 1989 but remained “of counsel” with the Ingraham Law Office for the remainder of his life.
Lloyd also owned and developed Schwartz Lake in the beautiful snowcapped Mission Mountains where he taught his family to fish, hike, camp and snowmobile. He frequently led his grandchildren in campfire sing-alongs, which always included his favorite ballad, “The Streets of Laredo.”
He and Peggy traveled extensively but always relished their return to their Montana home. Lloyd found ways to reflect the places they visited in the landscaped gardens he built on his golf course using stone he hauled from Whisky Trail Ranch.
Lloyd is survived by his wife Peggy; as well as daughters Glenda Pate (Gordon), Cheryl Hughes (Stan), Nancy Hadley (Tony), Marla Lango (Steve), Jill Curtis (Peter); son Greg (fianceé Linda Foust); 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, Hugh and Anna; and his five siblings Lee Opal, Elmer, Johnny, Fred, and Gene, who was killed at Normandy during WWII.
Lloyd engraved the following on a stone in one of his many lush gardens: “Observe the plan, the grand design, what hint of heaven in the heavens: With galaxies of life, the countless patterns of eternity. All this, and more, an accident? Without cause or reason, or lack of proof? Hardly.”
There will be a memorial celebration of Lloyd’s life on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 11 a.m. at the Ingraham home east of Ronan. For those who wish to honor Lloyd’s memory, his family suggests donations be made to the Montana Historical Society, P.O. Box 201201, Helena, MT 59620.
