Porter William Gifford III

Porter William Gifford III passed away Saturday, May 9, 2015 of multiple myeloma and amyloidosis in Glacier National Park.

Porter was born Oct. 15, 1946 in Dallas, Texas. He graduated from St. Marks School of Texas and later from the University of Denver where he was a member of SAE fraternity and graduated with a masters degree in finance. While in Denver, he served in the Army National Reserve.

In 1967, Porter met Marsha McLean from Miles City. Porter married Marsha in 1969. They moved to Dallas, Texas, where they had two daughters, Carrah of Portland, Ore., and Barrett of Applegate, Ore. In Dallas, Porter was a successful building contractor and mall developer.

In 1983 Porter and Marsha moved to Whitefish, where their third daughter Gillian was born and she resides in Jacksonville, Ore. While in Whitefish, Porter was a member of the Rotary club, a parishioner of the All Saints’ Episcopal Church, and was a real estate broker with Century 21 and later with West Ventures.  Porter loved the outdoors and enjoyed skiing, hunting, fishing and hiking.

Porter was preceded in death by his parents, Beth and Pete Gifford of Dallas, Texas.

He is survived by his wife Marsha, three daughters, a brother, Geoff Gifford from Colorado, a sister, Shari Gifford from New Jersey, sister-in-law Anne McLean and brother-in-law Harvey Stone, both of San Francisco.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Porter Gifford Memorial Fund at the First Interstate Bank in Whitefish.

Porter’s service will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 15, 2015 at All Saints’ Episcopal Church located at 2048 Conn Road (mid way between Whitefish and Columbia Falls off Highway 40).

Austin Funeral Home is caring for Porter’s family.