Alan Gilham
Alan Gilham, 78, passed away quietly on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, at his home in Martin City with his family by his side.
He was born Nov. 10, 1933, in Browning to Calvin and Elinor (Smith) Gilham, and was the second of six children.
When Alan was five, the family moved to a ranch between Browning and Cut Bank where they lived until he was nine when they moved to Spokane, Wash., for a short time during World War II. After the war, they moved back to the ranch and were there for several more years. He loved the ranch and always said his happiest memories were playing with his cousins and riding his horse, Big Enough Shorty.
Alan attended schools in Seville, Browning, Hot Springs and Spokane. In 1951, he joined the Air Force and served during the Korean Conflict, leaving the service with an honorable discharge in 1953. For most of his time in the service, he was stationed in Goose Bay, Labrador and Thule, Greenland. While he was stationed in Minneapolis in 1953, he met and married Angela (Penny) Krebsbach and had two daughters Tonilynn and Gloria.
From 1953 to 1955, Alan worked for the Glacier Reporter in Browning as a Linotype operator, typesetter and proof reader. Then in 1955, he went to work for Glacier National Park as a payroll supervisor.
In 1957, he and Penny divorced, and in 1958 he married Lois Baeth in Martin City and they had three sons, Vernon, Gary and Doug, and a daughter, Rebecca.
From 1959 until 1987, Alan worked for Indian Health Service, working his way up from a supply clerk to hospital administrator/service unit director. During his time with IHS, he worked in Montana, Oregon, South Dakota and Arizona.
In 1987, after retiring from IHS, Alan and Lois moved back to Martin City and he went to work for the Lundgren family at West Glacier, where he worked until 2001.
He was preceded in death by his parents; son Vernon Gilham; brothers Mike and Dean Gilham; sister Doris Meineke; and grandson Russell Gilham.
Alan is survived by his wife Lois and children Tonilynn Gilham, of Portland, Ore., Gloria Fuzi, of Hermiston, Ore., Gary Gilham and wife Wanda, of Kalispell, Doug Gilham and wife Debbie, of Columbia Falls, and Rebecca Gilham, of Hungry Horse; grandchildren Shane and Jason Travis, Raymond and Matthew Dunn, John and Angela Fuzi, Nathanial, Clifford and Krystyn Gilham, Jye and Cathy McDowell, Jacob Harris, Gary and Brandon Curry, Skylur and Stephanie Gilham, Mariena Taylor, Michael and Melissa Matt, Christopher Gilham, Andrew Burd, Brittney and Whisper Sellars; 25 great grandchildren; sisters Shirley Stirling and husband Jim, of Mount Vernon, Wash., and Sharon Williams, of Tooele, Utah; and cousin Robert Gilham, of Riverton, Utah, who lived with the family for several years.
Visitation will be held at Columbia Mortuary on Thursday, July 19, 2012, from 3 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held at Columbia Mortuary on Friday, July 20, 2012, at 1 p.m. with interment at Woodlawn Cemetery. A reception will follow at the Canyon Community Church Educational Building, 185 Coram School Lane, in Coram. To offer condolences and view Alan’s tribute wall, visit online at www.columbiamortuary.com.