John Hossack

John F. Hossack, 87, died Dec. 19, 2014, at the Good Samaritan Mountain View Manor in Eureka.

He was born June 11, 1927, to William and Clarice Coulton Hossack in Sandpoint, Idaho. He grew up in the West Glacier and Kalispell area and graduated from Flathead County High School in 1945. While still in school, he spent one summer playing semi-pro baseball for the Portland Beavers.

John entered the Navy immediately after graduating and served during World War II. He then attended school at Montana State for two years before transferring to the University of Montana in Missoula, where he graduated with a degree in forestry.

He married Tana Marie Jones in Kalispell in 1958. During their marriage, they adopted four children, sons William Floyd “Bill” and Robert Joseph Patrick “Tucker,” and twin daughters, Joni Marie and Marla Elizabeth. Tana passed away in 2004 in Whitefish. In 2006, John married Cheryl White in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, and they enjoyed eight wonderful years together.

John started working for the Forest Service at 15 as a lookout and smoke chaser. He continued his career in the Forest Service, working on numerous ranger districts and forests in Northwest Montana and Idaho, starting at the Lolo National Forest at the Remount Station (Nine Mile) and moving on to the Nez Perce Forest in Idaho, where he served as district ranger on the Moose Creek Ranger District when it first became a wilderness area, the Clearwater and Coeur d'Alene National Forests in Idaho, and the Kootenai and Bitterroot National Forests in Montana. He also served as an incident command officer on wildfires, and taught fire fighting skills at Marana, Ariz., in the winter for 15 years. He retired as forest supervisor from the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho in 1982.

After his retirement from the Forest Service, he worked as a consultant/lobbyist for members of the logging industry and joined the board of directors for Lincoln Electric Cooperative in Eureka. He also served at practicums for the Native American tribes.

He is survived by his wife Cheryl; sons William Hossack and wife Cathy, of Casper, Wyo., and Robert Hossack, of Port Townsend, Wash.; daughter Joni Hudson and husband Todd, of Hayden, Idaho; brother Donald Hossack, of Kalispell; eight grandchildren; and four great grandchildren.

At his request, no services will be held.