Leroy Grundmeier

Leroy H. Grundmeier, 69, passed away May 11, 2014, at the Montana Veterans Home.

He was born Sept. 6, 1944, in Blackduck, Minn., where he lived all of his younger life. In 1964, he moved to Whitefish to be near his sister and brother-in-law.

Leroy served in the Army from 1965 to 1967. After basic training and radio repair school, he was deployed to Vietnam. While there he was injured by shrapnel and was awarded a Purple Heart.

When he returned to Montana he went back to work logging. Leroy worked for multiple logging companies through the years, including Bruce Reimer, Will Warner Logging and Royal Logging. In March 1993, he came home in the middle of the day and never worked in the woods again.

He always worked at staying active. As Parkinson’s disease made mobility a struggle, he continued to enjoy running his chainsaw and tractor.

He was preceded in death by his mother, father, brother, two sisters, aunts, uncles and multiple nieces and nephews.

Leroy is survived by his wife of 43 years, Jana Grundmeier; daughter and son-in-law Kami  and Ken Doty; sisters Joyce Quimby, of Columbia Falls, Laura Thomas, of Beloit, Wis., and Lois Schwegel, of Whitefish; along with many nieces, nephews, cousins and very dear friends.

Services will be held at Buffalo Hill Funeral Home in Kalispell on Saturday, May 17, 2014, at 1 p.m. Military honors will follow at Glacier Memorial Gardens in Kalispell.

At the request of the family, donations may be made to the American Parkinson’s Disease Association, c/o John Holland, 808 Grizzly Drive, Great Falls MT 59404.