Our Funeral Directors & Staff
At Missoula Funeral Homes, we are honored to have earned the trust and confidence placed in us by those that we serve. We pledge to offer respectful and dignified professional service, service that a family should expect, service that a family deserves.
From the time the first phone call is received, throughout the service and beyond, each staff member at our funeral home contributes in an important way. We are very proud of our staff of caregivers who have been recognized nationally with a “Pursuit of Excellence” Award for their excellence in funeral service.
 | Rick Evans, Licensed Funeral Director/Owner
Rick Evans owner and operator of Garden City Funeral Home and Crematory and four other locations in Missoula and Western Montana has been a funeral director since 1981. Rick started working in Missoula at Livingston-Malleta and Geraghty funeral home in June of 1981. For a short time he worked in Whitefish and Columbia Falls until returning to Missoula and building Garden City Funeral Home and Crematory in 1989. In his spare time Rick enjoys traveling, boating, fishing and golfing living at Canyon River Golf Course. He and his wife Sally have four children and four grandchildren whom they enjoy immensely. He is active in the Montana Funeral Directors Association serving as president twice and also serving on the National level with the National Funeral Directors Association. He is a member of Sentinel Kiwanis, Missoula Builders Club, St. Anthony Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. |
 | Wayne Benson, Licensed Funeral Director
Wayne grew up on the gulf coast of Florida where he began a career in funeral service in 1976. He attended the University of Florida and Miami Dade College, obtaining a degree in Mortuary Science. He came to Missoula in May, 1980, to work with Squire Simmons & Carr Funeral Home, arriving just in time for Mount St. Helen to erupt. Later, in 2001 , he joined the talented staff of Garden City Funeral Home.
He has served in every office for the Montana Funeral Directors Assn. as well as several offices with the National Funeral Directors Assn.
A one-time traditional archer and bowhunter, he was bitten by the fly-fishing bug several years ago and is now considered by his wife a fly fishing and fly tying addict. He is also active in his church and has traveled to San Salvador for the past several years with various missionary groups. |
 | Misty Echevarria, Licensed Funeral Director
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 | Travis Newman, Licensed Funeral Director
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 | Vanessa Shook, Licensed Funeral Director
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 | Tim Harris, Assistant
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 | Beth Perine, Pre-Arrangement Specialist
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 | Colleen Montgomery, Office Management
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 | Barbara Druffel, Accountant
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 | Denise Ryan, Office Management
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Support Staff
Larry Burckhard
Eric Lameman
Eric Neumeister
Max Smith
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