Robert Howard

On July 7, 2012, Bob gave up his fight with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Bob was born Feb. 13, 1941, in Kalispell to Robert and Eunice McMahan Howard.

He graduated elementary school from the rural schoolhouse at Birch Grove and high school in 1959 from Flathead County High School in Kalispell. He attended Montana State University (now U of M) and, one quarter short of his degree in forestry, switched majors, graduating in 1969 with his bachelor’s in wildlife management.

He met his future wife, Faith Baldwin, in May 1958, and they were married in Kalispell on June 16, 1962. His children are Janeille and Brett Howard. On New Year’s Day of Brett’s junior year, a friend of Brett’s, Chuck Dziuk, joined the family and became Bob’s second son.

Bob worked the summers of 1962 and 1963 for the U.S. Forest Service, Hungry Horse Ranger District. In 1964, he was on the Trapper Creek Hot Shot Crew out of Darby. The next three summers, he was a smokejumper stationed out of Missoula. He fit in a year as a warden. He worked at the Ernst store while it was open and retired from Ziggy’s Building Center.

Bob was the outdoorsman-mountain man that you read about and some wish they were. Fishing, trapping, hunting, sapphire digging, picking over 1,000 lb. of huckleberries and trying to see every hidden corner in Montana were the fabric of his life that he brought others into. In 1991, 1993 and 1999, the lifelong dream of being in New Zealand fly-fishing for those “big” ones was realized. Photography and “coin shooting” with his metal detectors also got him outside. An unexpected fishing trip was in Scotland with his son, who was posted in England by the Navy.

Bob did not join many organizations but he did serve as the second president of the Montana Trappers Association, was on the board of Crimestoppers in its fledgling years, and helped start the Montana Furbearer Conservation Alliance. He was also a member of Glacier Camera Club.

One of his joys resulting from shift work was working with the young school friends of his kids giving class demonstrations on the ways of the outdoors. The kids still talk about his demonstrations and how he would stick his hands in a small leg trap.

Bob is survived by his father Robert W. Howard, at the Springs in Whitefish; sister Marilyn Edwards, Meridian, Idaho; wife Faith at the family home in Martin City; daughter Janeille Howard and her two sons Bryan and Kalyb, in Kalispell; son Brett Howard and wife Mandy and their three children Malyssa, Bethany and Marcus, of Columbia Falls; Malyssa’s daughter Alessandra is his great grandchild; son Chuck and his wife Kelly, his daughter Breann, and sons Alex, Sean and Cody. Bob has an extended family of uncle, aunts, cousins and lifelong friends scattered around the country.

Bob requested cremation. There will be an informal gathering of family and friends at 333 First Avenue South, in Martin City, on Sunday, July 15, at 1 p.m. to share stories and memories of Bob. It will be potluck so feel free to bring chairs, a favorite dish and be prepared to share a favorite story of a friend, son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather.