Fen Wilkinson

Fenwell "Fen" Lee Wilkinson, 84, of Glendive, Montana, passed away on Monday, August 4, 2025, at the Glendive Medical Center with family by his side. A Gathering of Family and Friends with a Time of Sharing will be held at 6 P.M., Friday, August 8, 2025, at Silha Funeral Home in Glendive. A Celebration of Fen's Life will be held at 11 A.M., Saturday, August 9, 2025, at the Dawson Community College gymnasium. Interment will follow at the Dawson County Cemetery. Family welcomes friends to attend a luncheon at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Glendive following burial. Silha Funeral Home of Glendive has been entrusted with arrangements. Born in Ogden, Utah, on March 21, 1941, Fen’s story began in tragedy: his father, Karl Joseph Wilkinson, a forest ranger and ski patrolman, was killed in an avalanche just three months before Fen was born. But that early loss only deepened the themes that would play out across his life—resilience, service, purpose. Fen's mother, Audrey Winifred (Cady) Wilkinson, moved with him and his older brother, Karl, II, to her hometown of Glendive. When Fen was three years old, his mother remarried. His step-father E.P. "Chris" Christiansen worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad. After sixth grade, Fen and his family, with his newest brother, Loren, moved on to Missoula and then to Livingston due to his step-father's job. However, Fen would return to Glendive after college to leave a mark as unmistakable as chalk on a blackboard. Fen graduated from Park County High School in Livingston with the Class of 1959. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from Montana State University in 1964 with teaching majors in both mathematics and science. He later returned to MSU to complete a Master’s in Applied Science of Mathematics in 1972. Throughout his career, he continued professional development through extension courses in computer programming, curriculum design, and educational leadership from both Montana State University and the University of Montana. Fen married twice during his life. With his first wife Glenda Anderson, he welcomed a son and daughter, Guy and Shelley. Later, Fen and Glenda divorced. In 1969, he married Margaret “Marge” Songer, and the happy couple added three more sons, Greg, Rob, and Mike, to their family. Marge's steady nature balanced his adventurous spirit and their partnership deepened into a quiet, enduring bond—steady and strong through fifty-six years together. Fen Wilkinson believed in education—not just as a profession, but as a calling. Over the span of 28 years in the classroom and decades on the court, he taught math with the same strategy and heart he used to coach basketball and tennis: fundamentals first, delivered with energy, humor, and relentless encouragement. Students who came in dreading math often left loving it. His “boom-boom” teaching method, his rhymes and songs about algebra, and his refusal to let students fail themselves became local legend. One former student—years out of school and working as an electrical engineer—once jumped out of his car just to recite the quadratic formula back to him in four seconds flat. Though Fen held advanced degrees and soaked up education at every turn, he never acted like the smartest person in the room. Instead, he made other people feel smart, capable, and seen. He taught with patience and high expectations, but he also listened—with a coach’s ear, a parent’s intuition, and a friend’s steadiness. All things considered, his 1989 Montana Teacher of the Year designation was more than well-deserved. If Fen's teaching years can be called prestigious, his coaching career, meanwhile, must be titled epic. He led Dawson County High School to two girls' basketball State A Championships and six second-place finishes. He also coached boys’ basketball and tennis, building programs known for discipline and teamwork with the quiet confidence of a man who didn’t need the spotlight of the more than a dozen State A Championships earned under his tutelage. He was twice named Montana Coach of the Year and was inducted into the Montana Coaches Hall of Fame in 1991. But his favorite victories weren’t always on the scoreboard—they were in the progress of an underdog team, the pride of a player who finally found her stride, the loyalty forged in early-morning practices and late-night bus rides. And he was loyal. Fiercely, sometimes comically so. In a speech delivered later in life, Fen told a story about a loyal assistant coach who took his joke too far—after Fen pretended to be furious with a farmer and shot the man’s mule (after privately being asked to), but the assistant coach shot two cows for good measure and in support of Fen. “That’s loyalty,” Fen deadpanned. Then he reminded the crowd to keep it in perspective. His perspective, in fact, was what made him remarkable. He believed in hard work, but not at the expense of imagination. He challenged students and players to see themselves doing something truly exceptional—then gave them the tools and encouragement to do it. He balanced principle with humor, ambition with humility. As he told students: “I’ve been 18. You’ve never been 71.” And he meant it with love, never condescension. Fen’s role in the Glendive community extended far beyond the classroom. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he taught Sunday School for years and served in various church leadership roles. He and his wife Marge opened their home to students in crisis, including two children left orphaned by a tragedy in the community. “Can we come live with you?” one of the children asked. Fen didn’t hesitate. They stayed for the remainder of the school year—and as long as they needed. After retiring from education, Fen took on a new challenge as Regional Claims Manager for a crop insurance company, proving, again, that reinvention wasn’t reserved for the young. But teaching always remained close to his heart. Even into his later years, he gave speeches to graduating classes, offering advice with his signature blend of warmth, wisdom, and dry humor. As commencement speaker, he instructed the DCHS graduates of 2012 to carry three things into life: Attitude, Imagination, and Loyalty. That’s how he lived. That’s how he’ll be remembered. He was a teacher, a coach, a mentor, a friend, a father, a Papa, and a husband. He showed up when it mattered and stayed longer than he had to. He expected greatness—and often got it, not because he demanded it, but because he believed in people before they believed in themselves. Fen Wilkinson didn’t just teach math. He taught how to move through the world with grace, grit, and just enough mischief to keep things interesting. And for the thousands who learned from him—on paper, on the court, or just in passing—he made the equation of a life well-lived look simple. But of course, it never was. He just made it feel that way. Fen was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife, Marge; sons, Guy (Lori), Greg (Stacy), Rob (Jessica), Mike (Jen); daughter, Shelley; 16 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; his brothers, Karl, II, and Loren (Paulette); and numerous nieces, nephews, and innumerable friends, classmates, and coworkers. Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at www.SilhaFuneralHomes.com.

Fen Wilkinson

March 21, 1941 - August 4, 2025

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Fen Wilkinson

March 21, 1941 - August 4, 2025

What We Do

Flowers & Gifts

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About Us

Resources

Obituaries

Grief & Healing

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