John L. Noyes, 89
John L. Noyes, 89, passed Feb. 25, 2025, in Whitefish.
John was born April 2, 1935, in Burlington, Vermont the son of Dr. Leighton H. Noyes and Sheila Lowery. A graduate of the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 1963.
The lure of the west brought John to Highland Alameda County Hospital in Oakland California for his internship. During this time he met a student nurse named Hope. In 1964 John and Hope were married. A marriage of over 60 years.
A two-year service with the US Public Health Service in Keams Canyon Arizona was John’s initiation to family practice with the Hopi and Navajo Nations. The call of more distant service, traveling the gravel road of the Alaskan Highway, ended in Fairbanks Alaska where his son, John Paul and daughter, Allison were born. With the advent of the Alaskan Pipeline and population surge, was time to find a more rural community to practice medicine. Seward Alaska provided that opportunity for seven years. In 1976 a call from his home state of Vermont was another adventure. After a year, restlessness settled in, time for another change. A suburban, hauling a travel trailer, fit the bill for a year of travel around the United States and home schooling. In 1978 an opportunity in a newly established emergency room in Cody, Wyoming, proved to be a great place for his practice and for the family. Another eight years and the final move to Kalispell where John completed his medical career, board certified in family practice and emergency medicine, with various locum tenens in emergency rooms of Montana, Washington and Wyoming.
Always a knowledge seeker with an artistic flair, John learned how to make gold leaf frames for fine art. His frame studio, by his home on Egan Slough, was a creators dream with views of the mountains and the slough. Traveling to western art shows in Great Falls, Bozeman, Cody and Scottsdale put John’s frames on fine art.
At 62 years of age John joined Big Sky Martial Arts and ultimately earned his second-degree black belt under the teachings of his son, John Paul.
Copper became the next medium of creativity. Helix shape, allowed circular movement, windforms were developed. These yard sculptures were featured in art galleries in Kalispell and Whitefish. They can be found gently turning in yards all across the country.
Time to downsize, moving closer into town, Whitefish became his home in 2013. John soon became the unofficial sweeper at WAG dog park. Pride in its appearance mattered to him. He went daily with his dogs or without. When he could no longer sweep, he was pushed in his wheelchair to enjoy the out of doors and playful dogs and friends of WAG. With the loss of mobility and inclement weather, John remained content sitting in the car and watching dogs run free. It was his happy place.
John is survived by his wife, Hope, his son, John Paul and wife, Debbie, his daughter, Allison and husband, Pete, and their daughters, Echo and Eva. Nephews, Peter and Michael Noyes and sister-in-law, Pat Sanderson.