David Owen

In Loving Memory of David Owen

On Monday, November 28, 2022, David Owen, loving husband, and father of four children, passed away at the age of 92.  

David was born in Wisconsin in March of 1930 to Gaylord and Frieda Owen.  He grew up in Wisconsin and developed a lifelong love of the outdoors, including hunting, fishing, working, and playing football.  In his teens he cared for a pair of field champion Golden retrievers named Mike and Laddie.  Throughout his life, he loved to watch a bird dog work and got a special thrill when a rooster broke cover in an explosion of color.  David entered the workforce early.  He started out with a paper route and selling bait for fishermen, caddying at golf courses, and began working on the railroad at age sixteen, after fudging his age.  He still managed to play football and joined his teammates in winning a state championship his junior year and was the team captain for a winning season his senior year.

Following graduation, Dave spent a year in the Army and then moved to Montana, earning his Airborne wings as a reservist and, shortly afterward, becoming a smokejumper for the Forest Service out of Missoula, Montana.  He continued to jump fires during the summers, and on weekends, as he earned a bachelor degree in Rangeland Management from the University of Montana’s School of Forestry.  Asked whether it was fun to jump out of airplanes, Dave would say “Yes it was” with a secretive smile, suggesting that if everyone knew just how fun it was, Fort Benning and Camp Menard would be overrun with eager volunteers.

Following college, Dave began a career in the Forest Service working on several Ranger Districts in Idaho, doing a variety of jobs including piling logging slash, working on blister rust crews, cruising timber, fighting fires, setting up game range transects, and packing supplies to Lookouts, fire camps, and trail camps with a horse and mule string. In 1958, Dave started his first job as a District Ranger on Big Prairie Ranger District (now part of Spotted Bear Ranger District).  He would have stayed in that job, in that place, for the rest of his career, but his supervisors let him know that was not an option, and he went on to serve as Ranger at Ninemile Ranger District.

It was at this time that Dave’s life changed when he met a young biology teacher named Kathryn (or Kay).  He didn’t make a good impression at first, showing up late to pick her up for their first date in a battered 1939 Dodge truck.   Fortunately, though, Kay shared a love of the outdoors with Dave.  Along with persistence this helped Dave get in better standing and led to a lasting marriage and the welcoming of four children into the world over the next ten years.  Dave and Kathryn started their family at Ninemile, and continued to raise them while Dave worked at Superior and then Spotted Bear Ranger Districts.

David’s last Ranger posting at Spotted Bear Ranger District felt like a homecoming.  He had a special connection to the country and thoroughly enjoyed, and was dedicated to serving the public that loved the South Fork of the Flathead as he did.  He also held a deep respect for the knowledge, skills, passion, and experience of the diverse group of people he worked with—including packers, fire and timber managers, archaeologists, wildlife biologists, trail crew members, wilderness rangers, Lookouts, office staff, cooks, farriers, maintenance workers, outfitters, and volunteer groups.  Dave’s family cherishes the memories they made during summers spent at Spotted Bear.

Following retirement, Dave enjoyed travel with his wife Kathryn.  He also enjoyed painting and drawing cartoons and, both Dave and Kay started downhill skiing again.  They enjoyed skiing at Big Mountain and Blacktail Mountain until Dave was into his late 80s.  As you took a chair up the mountain, you might have heard Dave joyfully yodel a few bars as he skied downhill.  Yodeling was something he had learned from his mother’s Swiss side of the family at a young age. Most of all, though, Dave enjoyed going down to the place in the Swan Valley that he and Kay had bought early in their marriage and where they had moved an old homestead cabin to in the 1960s.  Spring would find Dave and Kay planting trees, through the summer Dave would skid and deck logs with his small tractor.  They would both work together piling and burning brush, spraying and pulling invasive weeds, and fixing the road.  Often they were joined by their family.  Thoughtful management of this forest was one of Dave’s and Kay’s greatest pleasures and legacies.  Dave and Kay were recognized as Missoula County Land Stewards of the Year in 1997, and as Montana Tree Farmers of the Year in 2013.  Dave remained active working on the place in the Swan until he reached ninety years of age.

These past two years have been a journey, but one with many blessings.  The Owen family is very grateful to the many health care providers, professionals, and workers who have helped Dave along his journey these past two years, including those at Kalispell’s Logan Hospital, Woodland Clinic, Brendan House, and the Beehive Home.  And finally, the folks from Hospice and Loyal Care who enabled us to bring Dad home for his last month with us.  You are heroes.  And to our beloved husband, papa, grandpa, and great grandpa we are eternally grateful to have shared so many years with you and send our love with you as you begin your next adventure.

Dave is survived by his wife Kathryn, daughters, Colleen (Pat), Heidi (Scott), Carrie (Chris), and son, Russell (Jill), as well as grandchildren—Haley (Krystal), Maia (Dan), April, Leif, and Stella-- and a great grandson, Davey.

A celebration of life will be held at Darlington Funeral Home in Kalispell, on December 15 at 2 o’clock.  In lieu of flowers, kindly make a donation in Dave’s name to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation at bmwf.org.  

A livestream link will be available for David's service, https://my.gather.app/remember/david-owen-2022

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