James "Don" Bain, 87
James "Don" Bain, 87, "went home to be with the Lord" on Nov. 25, 2003, a loving son, brother, husband, father and grandfather.
Don was born Feb. 19, 1916, to James and Marion Bain in Raynesford. Don grew up in Kalispell. His first job was as a newsboy selling the Daily Inter Lake on the street corner. He graduated from Flathead County High School with honors in 1935.
Eva Picha became his bride in 1937.
Don enlisted in the Army when World War II began and served at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland where he achieved high rank followed by honorable discharge.
Don managed JC Penney stores in Chinook, Williston, N.D., Lewistown and Harlowton. Then he franchised his own store, Bain's Department Store in Harlowton, which he operated until his retirement in 1980.
He was past president of the Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club in Harlowton.
Don was preceded in death by his mother, Marion; father, James; a brother, Tom; a sister, Agness; and wife, Eva, in 1980; and his wife, Helen, in 2001.
He met Helen Seslar from Antwerp, Ohio, in 1983. She became his bride in 1984. They continued loving community life with lots of traveling. Don and Helen lived at Buffalo Hills Terrace for two years. Don was admitted into Immanuel Lutheran Home in November 2001.
Don enjoyed bowling, traveling, golf, fishing, dancing and social activities.
Don is survived by his two children, Nanci Bain, living in Allentown, Pa.; and a son, James Bain, living in Rogers, Ark.; two grandchildren, Nicolle and Jeremy Bain; two stepchildren, Karen McCabe, living in Columbia Falls, and Harry Seslar living in Antwerp, Ohio; and his brother, Bill, living in Columbia Falls. He is also survived by five stepgrandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
Don was and is loved by all and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 5 at the Presbyterian Church in Harlowton.
Imogene ‘Jean’ Stinger, 78
Imogene "Jean" Stinger, passed away Nov. 25, 2003, at the age of 78. Per her request, no services will be held.
A long time Whitefish resident, Ima Jean Mertens was born Nov. 23, 1925, in Iowa, later moving to Montana. She worked as a meatcutter and later as a bartender at several Whitefish establishments until her retirement.
Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Richard Barthel of Woodburn, Ore.; granddaughter and husband, Anita and Thomas Patton of Santa Barbara, Calif.; grandchildren, Jeff and Jenny Yeats; great-grandsons, Tyler and Brett Patton; sisters, Vivian Sandell of Eureka, Vi Jenkins, Amy Clayton and Dorothy Burchard, all of Washington; and numerous nieces and nephews, including niece and husband, Wilma and Ed James who were especially close to her; and close friend, Lillian Hawke.
She was preceded in death by her son, Leonard Yeats, in March, 2003.
Remembrances may be made to the American Cancer Society or Meals on Wheels.
Alman William "Bill" Hegland, 83
Our beloved, Alman William "Bill" Hegland, 83, "passed through this earth onto heaven," Monday, Nov. 24, 2003, at 1:35 p.m. at his home in Lakeside, surrounded by his loving and devoted wife and children.
Alman, most known as Bill Hegland was born in Minneapolis. He and his twin sister, Alma, were born on Feb. 5, 192, to William and Hilda (Bjorklund) Hegland. The Hegland family had traveled by train from their homestead in Plentywood to Minneapolis to assure the safe birth of the twins and the health of their mother. The twins remained in the hospital for three months more as their mother recovered from "child-bed fever." The twins, Alman and Alma, were the youngest children to join a family of two brothers and an older sister.
Alman's first years were spent on a homestead farm near Plentywood. Later, the family moved into the town of Plentywood where the children attended grade school and high school. Bill was baptized with relatives in Appleton, Minn., and confirmed in the Plentywood Lutheran Church. He was a faithful member of the Lutheran Church.
Bill graduated from Plentywood High School in 1938. After graduation he worked for Red Owl Store in Plentywood before enrolling in the Minnesota School of Business in Minneapolis. Before he joined the Navy in March 1944, he worked in an airplane factory in California during World War II. Bill went to Farragut, Idaho, for his boot camp training. He finished his active duty on Guam.
Bill was always interested in sports and enjoyed playing on the school basketball and football teams. He took special interest in his grandson, Tiger Harris' football and award-winning wrestling. Bill also took an active interest in politics and was very knowledgeable and well-informed.
After an honorable discharge from the Navy in 1946, Bill attended the University of Montana. While there he was a smokejumper based out of Missoula and jumped the year before the crew fought in the Mann Gulch incidence. Bill graduated in 1950 with a forestry degree.
At a Missoula church social, Bill met his future wife, Faye Manley of Kalispell. They were married June 19, 1951, by Bill's brother Norval, a Lutheran minister.
Bill worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) from 1950 until 1980 as a civil engineer and in the maintenance of way departments. Job and promotional transfers took Bill and his family to Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
In 1980, Bill and Faye retired to their property in Lakeside. They have four children and two grandchildren.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and one sister.
Surviving him are his wife, Faye, of 52 years; a son, David Hegland and wife, Patti, of Alexandria, Va.; another son, Mark Hegland of Lakeside; two daughters, Lynne and Gayle Hegland of Lakeside; Bill's twin sister, Alma Jakobson, of Stevensville. Surviving also are one granddaughter and her husband, Amber and Travis Sienknecht, and one grandson, Tiger Harris. Numerous nieces and nephews he also leaves "until eternity unites us again."
A memorial service will be held 1:30 p.m. at Eidsvold Lutheran Church in Somers, Friday, Nov. 28.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to Eidsvold Lutheran Church.
Johnson Mortuary and Crematory in charge of arrangements.
Margaret (Leflak) Tischler, 86
Margaret (Leflak) Tischler, 86 of Salisbury, Conn., died Monday evening, Nov. 24, 2003, at Noble Horizons in Salisbury. She was the wife of the late Christian Tischler who passed on in 1999.
She was born Oct. 16, 1917, in Poltschach, Slovenia, daughter of the late Gregor and Klara (Jerschetschitsch) Leflak.
After immigrating to this country in 1951 with her husband and daughter from Austria she settled in Chicago. There, she worked for 23 years at the canteen of the Chicago post office. She retired in 1975 as the supervisor and manager of the canteen. She was a respected and loyal employee. She enjoyed extending her gracious hospitality and possessed excellent baking and cooking skills.
Margaret loved dogs, birds, and nature, and also loved to serve others and to be needed. She lived in Chicago for 20 years. From Chicago she moved to Colorado and Montana. While in Montana, she lived in both Bigfork and Kalispell. She moved back to Connecticut in 1997.
Survivors include her daughter, Christine T. Friedrich of Goshen, Conn., and New York; and three sisters and one brother, who all live in Slovenia.
She was also predeceased by a brother,
Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, in St. Luke's chapel on the grounds of Noble Horizons, 17 Cobble Road, Salisbury, Conn. There are no calling hours.
Arrangements are under the care of the Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home, 118 Main St, North Canaan, CT 06018.
Della D. Paradis Stevens, 81
Della D. Paradis Stevens, 81, passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2003, at Heritage Place in Kalispell.
Della was born on Aug. 24, 1922, in Maddoch, Mont., to Laurnce and Adeline Luzon Paradis. She was the second of five girls, and five boys. She attended grade school and high school in Flaxville.
As a teenager, she worked at a soda fountain in Scobey. It was there she met William "Eddy" Stevens. They were married on Della's 21st birthday at St. Charles Catholic Church in Opheim. They had five boys and one daughter.
Della worked for the Farmer's Union in Opheim from 1950 until 1978. She owned her own restaurant from 1978 to 1980, and was a resort manager in Whitefish from 1980 until 1995.
Her husband, Eddy, passed away in 1978.
She was very active in St. Charles Catholic Church in Whitefish for many years. She enjoyed golfing, bowling and traveling. She dearly loved her family and grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Eddy; one daughter, Idel; and one son, Joseph.
She is survived by four sons, Larry, Patrick, Donald and Mark; and grandchildren, Jessica Stevens, Joseph Stevens and Hannah Stevens.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28, at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Whitefish, with the Rev. Charles Roman officiating. Burial will be at Holy Family Catholic Cemetery in Glentana at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Buffalo Hill Funeral Home caring for the family.
Oscar Theodore Johnson, 88
Oscar Theodore Johnson, 88, "was welcomed into the arms of the Lord" on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2003.
He was born May 2, 1915, to Albert and Inga (Amundson) Johnson in Glendive. The Johnson family moved to Rothsay, Minn., in 1919, returned to Montana in 1930, and established a farm in Rudyard where Oscar was a charter member of the Goldstone Lutheran Church a few miles from there.
Oscar married Signe Tollefson in 1938, and born into this union were two sons, Douglas and Darryl. They were later divorced.
After selling the grain farm he had worked for 32 years, he moved to Kalispell where he met the love of his life, Dorothy Anderson. They were married July 3, 1970, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.
Oscar embarked on a new career with the Forest Service on the Flathead National Forest where he began as a seasonal with the trail crew on the Spotted Bear Ranger District. After two seasons, he became a full-time soils technician and with his special creative skills designed and built the Soils Testing Lab at the Forest Service shop. He retired from the Forest Service in 1980.
God blessed us with this gentle, loving, caring man who worked hard at whatever he could find to do or was asked to do (he just couldn't be idle). Oscar was everyone's expert "handyman" as he could fix anything. He gave much of his time to projects at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp, the church, or to anyone who needed a helping hand. The log shop he built was a workshop of love where he created so many wonderful things from wood and restored old pieces of furniture to their original beauty. Those of us who received one of his treasures will always hold them in our hearts as something very special.
Oscar and Dorothy shared their love of dancing and enjoyed bowling and cross-country skiing. He was very active in Bethlehem Lutheran Church and served on the church council and as president of the Sons of Norway.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Albert and Inga Johnson; sisters, Irene and Adella; brother, Donald; son, Darryl; stepdaughter, Jerralyn; and stepgrandson, Jeremy.
Oscar is survived by his wife, Dorothy; son, Douglas Johnson of Olympia, Wash.; stepsons, Doug Anderson and wife, Bev, of Kent, Wash., and Tim Anderson and wife, Rosemary, of Spokane; stepdaughters, Nola Rice and husband, Curt, of Kalispell, Penny Lee and husband, Jim, of Kennewick, Wash., and Linda Duplessie of Phoenix; niece, Claudia Curd of San Mateo, Calif.; 17 stepgrandchildren, 34 stepgreat-grandchildren; and numerous other nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 29, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church with Pastor Larry Stappler officiating. Burial will follow at Glacier Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be noon to 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28, at Johnson Mortuary Chapel.
The family suggests memorials be given to Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp, 603 Main Street, Kalispell, MT 59901 or a charity of your choice.
Arrangements are under the direction of Johnson Mortuary and Crematory.
Arthur Julius Helland, 72,
Arthur Julius Helland, 72, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2003, at the Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell.
He was born Oct. 14, 1931, in Binford, N.D., to Hjalmer and Julia (Gilbertson) Helland. Arthur received his early education in Hannaford, N.D., before enlisting in the Army and serving his country in the Korean Conflict.
Upon his return he met and married Donna Nelson in Fargo, N.D., on June 21, 1954. They farmed in Hannaford until moving to Kalispell in 1967. Arthur went to work as a mechanic for farm equipment in various jobs until 2001.
He had a great sense of humor and a good heart. He enjoyed bowling, fishing, hunting, camping, bicycling and especially his family and grandchildren. He was president of Sons of Norway, a member of the Eagles and a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church.
Arthur was preceded in death by his parents.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Donna; two sons, Jeff and Janet, and Aaron and DeAnn; four daughters, Linda Hills, Terryl and Dean Cole, LaDonna and Daryl Culbert, and Yvonne and Mark Tarr, all of the Flathead Valley. He is also survived by two brothers, Gordon and Howard; four sisters, Myrt Lima, Sue Haugen, Irene Cook, and Gladys Vammen; 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church with Pastor Larry Stappler officiating. Visitation will be at the church one hour prior to the service.
Arrangements are under the direction of Johnson Mortuary and Crematory.
