Donald Redding

Donald Orlando Redding, 86, of Columbia Falls went home to be with the Lord on Aug. 27, 2009, after a courageous battle with cancer. Born on Dec. 23, 1922, in Leoti, Kan., he was the son of Orlando and Mabel Redding.

He grew up in Kansas on a farm during the depression years. When he was 24, he became one of the early traveling custom cutters who harvested wheat from Texas clear up into Montana. During this time Don met his wife-to-be, Marjorie Anderson, and they were married on May 10, 1950. They first lived in Martin City, then Whitefish and finally in Columbia Falls. Don participated in the building of the Hungry Horse Dam. Upon completion of that, he took part in the construction of the Anaconda Aluminum Plant, where he became employed until his retirement in 1986. While he worked at the plant full time, he also moonlighted as a farmer in his spare time on 80 acres of land he purchased outside of Whitefish.

Upon retirement, he narrowed down his farming into one acre at their new home outside Columbia Falls. He went from farming wheat, barley or alfalfa to growing dahlias, which brought him blue ribbons at the county fair. Everything he grew was blue ribbon quality, even his lawn. A neighbor once said that Don Redding could put a two-by-four in the ground and grow a tree out of it. Don also had a great love for woodworking and had a special knack for creating his own tools. He loved building cabinets, furniture and toys, and in his later years became especially fond of making pens out of rare woods.

Don was a devoted husband, father and grandfather and was a dedicated member of the Fellowship Alliance Church, where he was seen as a greeter every Sunday morning. Don enjoyed good friends and good conversation and had many stories to tell. We will miss our laughs at his stories.

Don is survived by his wife of 59 years, Marjorie; son Tracy (Ann) of Issaquah, Wash.; daughter Jackie Burrell (Rick) of Columbia Falls; grandchildren, Andrew, Stephen and Emily Redding; sisters Eileen Schwindt (Hallie) and Helen Jay (Clifford) of Garden City, Kan., Edith Stout of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Phyllis Jean Harding of Portland, Ore., brother Robert Redding (Mel) of Napa, Idaho; and his beloved dachshund, Heidi.

There was a viewing Monday, Aug. 31 at the Columbia Mortuary in Columbia Falls.

Funeral services were held Tuesday, Sept. 1 at Fellowship Alliance Church in Columbia Falls with interment at Glacier Memorial Gardens in Kalispell.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Great Commission Fund through Fellowship Alliance Church in Columbia Falls, Frontier Hospice, or the Humane Society.