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Donald McFaydean
Longtime Eureka businessman and rancher Donald McFadyean, 80, father of a Libby woman, died Sept. 11, 1999.
He was born in Augusta on March 5, 1919, to Scottish immigrants Margaret and David McFadyean. He was raised on a sheep ranch in the East Glacier area and attended Browning schools.
He worked in a grocery store while attending school and when only 19 years old owned and operated a small grocery store in Cut Bank.
He married Dorothy Sume in 1940.
McFadyean enlisted in the U.S. Navy in January 1943 and was discharged in December 1946 after serving in the Pacific area.
In February 1946 he established Mac’s Market in Eureka and was in the grocery business until selling to his son David in 1972. From that time on McFadyean concentrated on raising purebred Hereford cattle on his ranch northwest of Eureka.
In 1981, due to health problems, he retired and moved with his wife to Oregon, returning to Montana in 1989 to live at Kalispell.
Survivors include his wife Dorothy, Kalispell; children David McFadyean, Kalispell, and Dolly Crum, Libby; two grandchildren, Kim McFadyean and Kari Morris, and great-grandson Matthew Morris.
Services were conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Baptist Church in Eureka with burial in the Tobacco Valley Cemetery.
Gordon Trulock
Gordon A. Trulock, 75, of Libby, died Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999, at St. John’s Lutheran Hospital.
He was born on March 25, 1924, at Paxton, to Judson and Ruby Trulock and was raised and educated in eastern Montana.
Gordon enlisted in the U.S. Army in December 1941 and served with the Army Air Corps in the European Theater during World War II, receiving the Bronze Star.
Following his honorable discharge in 1945, Gordon returned to Montana.
He worked at various jobs throughout the country, living for a time at Havre where he was employed with the Hill County road crew. He was also a professional musician.
Gordon married Dorothy Freier on Nov. 19, 1961, at Havre.
They moved to Bremerton, Wash., where Gordon was employed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyards for many years until retirement. They also lived in southern Utah until moving to Libby five years ago.
Survivors include his wife Dorothy, Libby; his children Fred Brooks, Elko, Nev.; L.D. (Dean) Brooks, Las Vegas, Nev.; Robin Trulock, Great Falls, and Lee and Sheila Trulock; 15 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
Services were conducted at 3 p.m. Monday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Interment with military honors will follow at the City of Libby Cemetery.
Edwin Jacobs
Edwin J. (Jake) Jacobs, 69, of Libby, died Sunday, Sept. 5, 1999, at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane of an apparent heart attack.
He was born on Oct. 13, 1929, at Pierre, S.D., to Edward and Ruth Westland Jacobs.
He grew up in Pierre, where he attended school and graduated from Pierre High School.
Jake served with the U.S. Army from 1950-1952, spending a year in Korea.
He married Beverly Engel on June 29, 1953, in the Evangelical United Brethren Church at Bismarck, N.D.
He earned a degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University in 1956.
The family moved to Libby in 1967 and Jake worked on the Libby Dam Project for the Corps of Engineers until 1970. He retired to Libby in 1984, after spending eight years in Saudi Arabia.
Jake enjoyed flying and making model airplanes, refinishing furniture and reading. He was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the National Rifle Association, National Association of Retired Federal Employees and the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
Survivors include his wife Beverly, Libby; sons Terry Jacobs and his wife Alison, Gouverneur, N.Y., David Jacobs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; daughter Ruth Jacobs Jackson, Sacramento, Calif.; sister Edith Herbert and her husband Francis, North Port, Fla.; seven grandchildren, Whitney, Caitlin, Christian, Mitchell, Rebecca, Marshall and Benjamin, and his dog Molly.
Visitation was from 1-8 p.m. Wednesday at Nelson & Vial Funeral Home and services were conducted at 1 p.m. Thursday at Christ Lutheran Church.
Local arrangements were by Nelson & Vial Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to Christ Lutheran Church.
Elda Moen
Elda Moen, 86, the mother of Libby residents, died Tuesday, Sept. 7, 1999, at the Glacier Manor in Kalispell.
She was preceded in death by her husband Wernell, two brothers and son-in-law Jerry Syth.
Survivors include daughters Jean Owens, Kalispell, and Noreen Syth, Fortine; sons Donald Moen and his wife Ginny and Dale Moen and his wife Renee, all of Libby; sisters Selma Connolly, Grants Pass, Ore.; Ruth Olson and husband Wally, Hoople, N.D.; Alvida Anderson, Edmore, N.D., and Marion Dowling, Green Island, N.Y.; nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Johnson Mortuary in Kalispell with burial to follow at the Conrad Memorial Cemetery.
Iris Sparkman
Iris Sparkman, 81, who managed the Silver Spur in Troy for 16 years, died on Aug. 18, 1999, at the Regency Care Center in Monroe, Wash., of kidney failure, following several years of poor health.
She was born on April 16, 1919, to Harry and Myrtle Henderson on the family homestead on the Kootenai River north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
Iris, the youngest of four children, was introduced to the food service business at an early age. The family had lost the homestead during the Great Depression, and when Myrtle Henderson found employment in a Bonners Ferry restaurant, she took Iris to work with her because she couldn’t afford to pay for her care.
Over the ensuing years Iris worked as a waitress in many different towns, and during World War II she and her mother teamed up in Spokane as owners of the Diamond Cafe in the Garland district.
After the death of her mother in 1947, Iris moved her two boys and baby daughter to St. Louis where her sister Gladys lived. She worked as a Harvey Girl and gained experience that would serve her well in later years.
In the 1950s Iris and another sister, Peggy, managed the Mint Cafe and bar in Bonners Ferry.
In 1959, seeking a better life for her family, Iris moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and although she started working as a waitress in the coffee shop of the biggest hotel in Alaska, she soon became assistant banquet manager, a position never before held by a woman.
Her interest in current events led her to participate in politics, as a Democrat. She was active in union affairs, gaining election to the highest office in the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union.
It was at Anchorage that Iris was asked to assemble a small staff to serve President John Kennedy and his entourage during a resting stop there. Iris enjoyed a personal visit with the president that remained a special memory.
In 1972 Iris was elected as an Alaska delegate to the National Democratic Convention in Miami Beach, where she supported George McGovern.
An early attempt to retire to southern California sent Iris into a deep depression which she countered by returning to Alaska. She became the first woman to work as a union business agent on the Alaska Pipeline.
The next time she contemplated retirement, Iris chose to return to the Kootenai River valley where she grew up. She purchased the Silver Spur from her sister Gladys Blake in December 1976 and operated it for the next 16 years, selling it in December 1992.
Iris was preceded in death by her brother Alden Henderson, killed in the 1964 Alaska earthquake; sister Peggy McElroy in 1992 and granddaughter Julie Steel of Bonners Ferry.
She is survived by her children, Jack Steele and his wife Jill, Lynnwood, Wash.; Elizabeth Rogers, Anchorage; Jim Sparkman, Troy; her sister Gladys Blake, Bonners Ferry; sister-in-law Catherine Henderson, Oak Harbor, Wash.; nephew Harry and his wife Patty Henderson and their daughters Laura and Lisa, all of Oak Harbor; daughter-in-law Donna Day, and great-grandchildren Josh and Logan, all of Bonners Ferry; grandsons Brian Steele, Post Falls, Idaho, and Scott Desmareis, his wife Cheryl and their children Nicole and Joshua, all of San Jose, Calif.
Cremation has taken place and Elizabeth will take her mother’s ashes to Anchorage so that in the spring they can be scattered in a field north of town that is filled with spectacular blooms of iris. This action seems appropriate to all who knew and loved this remarkable woman.
Dan Vial
Daniel M. Vial, 39, of Libby, died Wednesday morning, Sept. 8, 1999, as the result of injuries received in a truck accident near Greensboro, N.C.
He was born on Dec. 9, 1959, at Fort Benton, to Mel and Joan Vial.
Dan lived with his family at Fort Benton, Great Falls, Deer Lodge and Laurel before coming with them to Libby in 1969.
He attended Libby schools and graduated from Libby High School with the Class of 1978.
Dan attended Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell and later graduated from the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science.
He was associated with Vial Funeral Homes of Libby and Eureka for several years and was employed as a commercial truck driver for Swift Trucking at the time of his death.
Dan enjoyed the Montana outdoors and was an avid hunter and fisherman.
He was preceded in death by his father Mel Vial on Aug. 18, 1999.
Survivors include his daughter Shannon, Boca Raton, Fla.; mother Joan Vial, Libby; sister Debra Huisentruit and her husband Maurice (Mo), Troy; nephews Jeremy Huisentruit, Kalispell and Josh Huisentruit, Missoula; special friend Diane Siefke, and numerous uncles, aunts and cousins.
Services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Nelson & Vial Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Charles Couch officiating.
Interment services will follow at the City of Libby Cemetery.
