Honestly, when you're looking for Retz Funeral Home obituaries Helena MT, you aren't just looking for a name and a date. You’re usually looking for a story, a connection, or maybe just a bit of closure. Death is heavy, but in a tight-knit place like Helena, the way we remember people matters. Retz has been a fixture in this town since 1926, which is kind of wild if you think about it—that's a century of Montana history passing through one set of doors.
Whether you're a local trying to find service times for a friend or someone living out of state researching family roots, navigating the digital archives can be a bit of a maze. The funeral home has evolved, merged, and updated its digital presence, so finding what you need isn't always as simple as a single click.
Where the Records Live Today
If you’ve lived in Helena long enough, you might still call it "Retz," but the business actually operates as Anderson Stevenson Wilke & Retz Funeral Home. This is a big detail because if you search for an old website that just says "Retz," you might land on a broken link or an outdated landing page.
The most reliable place to find current Retz Funeral Home obituaries Helena MT is on their consolidated website, helenafuneralhome.com. That’s the central hub. They’ve done a decent job of keeping things organized, but you’ve gotta know where to look.
The site is split into "Recent Obituaries" and "Archives." If the passing happened in the last few weeks—say, late 2025 or early 2026—it’ll likely be right there on the front page. People like Kent Griffin, who passed at 83, or Linda Lee, 72, have their full service details listed here. But if you’re looking for someone from five or ten years ago, you'll need to hit that "Archives" button and search by last name or year.
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Recent Names in the Helena Community
To give you a sense of who has been remembered recently through their services, here are a few residents from the 2025-2026 period:
- Kent Griffin (1942–2026): A Helena local whose funeral mass was held in East Helena this January.
- Linda Lee (1953–2026): Services were recently pending as the community waited for confirmation.
- Akira Diego Maynard (2007–2026): A heartbreakingly young loss at just 18, honored with a Celebration of Life in early January.
- Douglas A. Roberts (1952–2025): A Radersburg resident remembered with military honors.
The History Behind 315 E. 6th Avenue
You can't talk about Retz without talking about that building on 6th Avenue. It’s a "contributing property" to the Helena Historic District, and it basically looks like a piece of art. Originally, it was the Opp & Conrad Funeral Home, built by a guy named George Jacoby.
The architectural style is super specific—lots of exposed rafter tails and brick-and-stucco work that was trendy in the mid-1920s. Back then, they were the first in town to ditch the old-school horse-drawn carriages for "limousine-type" vehicles. It was the height of modernity in 1926. It didn't even become "Retz" until 1954, and it has since joined the Stevenson & Sons family, which is a big name in Montana mortuary services.
How to Actually Search for an Obituary
If the main website isn't giving you what you need, don't give up. There are a couple of other ways to track down Retz Funeral Home obituaries Helena MT.
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- The "We Remember" Pages: Retz uses a platform called We Remember for some of their digital memorials. These are sort of like social media pages for the deceased where you can upload photos or share a specific "I remember when" story.
- Local News Sources: The Helena Independent Record (the IR) is still the go-to for printed obits. Sometimes the family will choose to put a shorter notice in the paper and a longer one on the funeral home site.
- Legacy and Find A Grave: For older records, especially those from the 1950s through the 1990s, these third-party sites are often more complete than the funeral home's own digital archive, which mostly focuses on the 2000s and later.
More Than Just a List of Names
Planning a funeral is, frankly, exhausting. Retz handles more than just the paperwork and the obits. They have a locally owned crematory, which is a big deal for families who don't want their loved ones shipped out of town for the process.
They also run something called the Angel Program. It’s a specific service designed to support families who have lost a child. It’s one of those things you hope nobody ever needs, but it’s a vital part of why this specific home is so respected in the Lewis and Clark County area.
Key Information for Families
If you are looking for the actual physical locations or need to reach someone, there are two main spots in town.
The "magnificent" newer facility is located at 3750 North Montana Avenue. This is where many of the larger services happen because the chapel is huge. The phone number there is 406-442-8520.
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The historic Retz building is at 315 E. 6th Avenue. If you're looking for records or historical info, that's often the place people associate with the name. You can reach that office at 406-442-1550.
What to Do Next
If you’re currently trying to find an obituary or plan a service, here is what you should do:
- Check the Official Site First: Go to
helenafuneralhome.comfor the most accurate, family-approved text. - Call the Office for Older Records: If you're doing genealogy and a name isn't showing up online, call the 6th Avenue office. They have physical ledgers that go back decades.
- Sign Up for Alerts: The website actually has a feature where you can receive an email whenever a new obituary is posted. This is helpful if you're away from Helena but want to keep tabs on the community.
- Verify with the IR: If you're looking for a specific wording used in a legal notice, cross-reference with the Independent Record archives at the Lewis & Clark Library.
Dealing with loss is never easy, but at least in a place like Helena, the records are kept with a bit of Montana pride.