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Larry Kelch

Larry Dean Kelch, 65, passed away Sept. 3, 2006, at Kalispell Regional Hospital from heart arthythmia due to complications of cancer.

Dean was born July 22, 1941, in Kalispell to Everett and Edna Kelch. He grew up in the Flathead Valley, except for two years when the family moved to Seattle, where his father and mother worked in the shipyards during World War II.

From grades 1 through 8, he attended Bissell Elementary School on Farm to Market Road, graduating from Flathead High School in 1959. After graduation, he enlisted in the Army, from which he was honorably discharged in December 1962. He spent time in Germany operating heavy equipment. From 1963 through September 2003, he was involved in the timber industry, sawing logs and operating a de-limber.

In 1965, he married Evelyn Hanley, from Whitefish, and they had four children. They raised their family on a hobby farm on Farm to Market Road, west of Whitefish, until moving to Polson in 2004, where he retired to enjoy more of this wonderful valley we live in.

He was active in the Bissell School board of trustees for eight years, as a 4-H livestock leader for 11 years, and several years in the Stillwater Grange. His family and the outdoors were the loves of his life, whether working, playing, hunting or boating.

He was preceded in death by his father and stepmother, Everett and Remina "Tiny" Kelch; an infant brother; brother-in-law Neil Creighton; and nephew Jason Madsen.

Dean is survived by his wife Evelyn, of Polson; children Wendy Morris and husband Dave, of Whitefish, Sheila Lindsay and husband Jim, of Hot Springs, S.D., Renee Kelch, and Jeff Kelch and wife Brandi, of Polson; grandchildren Makenzy Kelch and Dylan Kelch; great granddaughter Isabell Johnson; mother Edna Kelch, of Kalispell; sisters Ellen Creighton and Sherry Madsen and husband Gerald, all of Kalispell; brothers Lloyd Kelch and wife Marcia, and Robert Kelch, all of Kalispell; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Memorial services will be Friday, Sept. 8, 2006, at 11:00 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Whitefish, with burial at Glacier Memorial Gardens Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Flathead 4-H Foundation, c/o Extension Services, 920 South Main Street, Kalispell MT 59901.