Fond remembrance of Columbia Falls' 'Mr. Baseball'

He was Columbia Falls’ Mr. Baseball.

More than 200 people packed the Fellowship Alliance Church to remember and celebrate the life of Dick Lundstrom. Lundstrom died Sept. 20. He was 70.

Lundstrom was a coach, umpire and baseball association board member for 22 years and after he “retired” in 2007, he still worked the grounds and helped out at the Sapa Johnsrud Fields in Columbia Falls.

Lundstrom always had a smile.

“He was a great ambassador for the city,” said his brother, Frank. Frank lived on the west coast, but when he came back to visit, the two brothers would end up at the fields.

“He had a way of dragging me down to the baseball fields with a weed whacker,” Frank said.

Lundstrom suffered a stroke in 2015 and had been living at the Montana Veterans Home.

Frank thanked the staff for the care they gave Dick during his years there.

“It (the Veterans Home) is a really special place,” he said. “They do a top notch job.”

Lundstrom served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War era. He worked at Plum Creek Lumber Company for 36 years. After retiring, volunteering became a full-time job.

He loved to read with the students at Ruder Elementary, deliver Meals on Wheels, was president of the Columbia Falls Senior Center, Columbia Falls Food Pantry, Agency on Aging and worked at the Glacier Clean Car Wash.

Lundstrom got his start coaching his son Chad in youth baseball in 1983. His last coaching gig was leading the Seahawks, a men’s 50 and over league softball team, for seven years.

Lundstrom founded the team and recruited the players. For the first two years, they were not a good team, recalled Anthony McCarter. But Lundstrom didn’t like to lose and kept recruiting players.

They won five straight championships.

“He cared deeply about the game,” McCarter said.

“It was a family,” said team member Jeff Henning.

The team plans on staying together next season, with pacthes on their uniforms in memory of Lundstrom.