Dorothy G. "Dottie" Rice, 77, passed away after an extended battle with pulmonary fibrosis at the Northern Montana Care Center on Friday, February 14, 2025.  Cremation has taken place, and a celebration of Dottie's life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, March 14, 2025, at the Havre Eagles Club.  She will be buried in the Glen Abbey Cemetery in San Diego, CA, at a later date.  Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.

Dottie was born on October 1, 1947, in East Chicago, IN, to Henry and Dorothy (Melvin) Leslie.  She was raised in East Chicago, attending school there.  After graduation, she began working.  In 1965, she met Robert "Bob" Rice, and although she initially did not like him, she soon grew to love him.  The couple were married in 1967, and three children were born of their union.  Bob was in the Navy, so the family moved around.  While being a military wife was not easy, Dottie embraced it, caring for her children as a single mom while their dad was at sea.  She was a homemaker for many years, and in San Diego, she worked as a legal secretary for the Miramar Naval Station.  Bob retired from the Navy in 1995, and the family moved to Havre in 1996, where Dottie began working for the US Customs and Border Patrol as a mission support specialist.  She held that position until her retirement in 2012.  She and Bob later divorced, but they remained steadfast friends until her death.

Dottie enjoyed reading and working cross stitch.  Her children say she was a great cook, and she loved to host big barbeques for her family and friends.  She was a very social and selfless woman, putting others first, and was very proud of her children and grandchildren's accomplishments.  Dottie loved to play BINGO with her chosen sister and second mom, Charlotte, and providing wonderful holidays for her family was very important to her.  In recent years, she had Boston Terriers, and she absolutely adored them.

She was preceded in death by her twin infant daughters; parents, Henry and Dorothy Leslie; sister, Patricia Eckman; chosen sister and second mom, Charlotte Lillis; and nephew, Randy Eckman, Jr.

Dottie is survived by her children, Robby (Mericia) Rice of San Diego, CA, Bill Rice of Ogden, UT, and Marianne (Justin Gomke) Culley of Havre; grandchildren, Jacoby and Layla Culley; former husband, Bob Rice; former son-in-law, Joel Culley; brother-in-law, Randy Eckman; sister-in-law, Jann Fugelseth; nephew, Scott Eckman; cousin, Linda Bramlett of Madison, WI; and many friends who became family to her.