Frederick Salter

| September 8, 2004 11:00 PM

Frederick Henry Salter, 82, died Sept. 3, 2004, at his home on Foothill Road in Kalispell.

He was born Aug. 19, 1922, in Gulph Mills, Pa., to Frederick Evan and Ethel M. (Jordan) Salter. Fred grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania, ran a trap line and played fiddle in a hillbilly band at barn dances.

He joined the U.S. Horse Calvary while a teenager. He fought in North Africa as a recon scout from 1942-1943, then in Sicily in 1943, and also in Italy in 1944.

He married Pauline Folding in November 1946 in West Chester, Pa. After World War II, they wound up raising three sons in a log cabin in southeast Alaska on the shores of Auke Bay. In 1977, they moved to mountain farming in the foothills of the Swan Range in Northwest Montana.

Fred raised sheep until his first wife's death in September 1991. He married Cecelia Moleski in August 1993 at St. Richards in Columbia Falls.

Fred enjoyed hunting, fishing, farming, woodworking, playing country music, writing and poetry. He has played music all over the valley. He was the author of the books "Recon Scout" and "The Maverick Tumbleweed." He was a life member of the Disabled Americans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Pauline V.; and a daughter, Kathleen, in 1952.

He is survived by his wife Cecelia, of Kalispell; three sons, Michael, of Kalispell, Fred James, of California, and Eric Cody, of Juneau, Alaska; granddaughters Christy Behm, of New Meadows, Idaho, and Veronica Salter, of Juneau, Alaska; a brother, George, of Eagleville, Pa.; a sister, Ethel Gitty, of Norrisville, Pa.; and five stepchildren, Dan, Bill, Larry, Chris and Nancy Moser.

Funeral services were held Sept. 8, 2004, at Risen Christ Catholic Church, with Father Rudolph Bullman officiating. Burial services followed at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery. The family suggests that donations be made to Hospice Home Health Options, 175 Commons Loop, Suite 100, Kalispell MT 59901, or the local VFW Group, 111 South Main Street, Kalispell MT 59901.