Jack K. Brabender, 80, died Sunday, May 22, 2016, at his home Sandpoint, Idaho, following a long illness.
He leaves his wife of eight years, Eveyln (Alford) Brabender, his daughter Barbara Hunt of Kalispell, sons, Bill Brabender of Tacoma, Washington, and Willis and Tracy Brabender of Wasilla, Alaska; granddaughters Niki, Jacquie, Bailey and Jennifer; six stepchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Jack was born Feb. 24, 1936, in Havre to Earl and Pearl Brabender. He grew up in Bigfork, where he worked as a wrangler for the Rocky Bar O and also in Glacier National Park. After graduating from Bigfork High School in 1954, he joined the Navy and served aboard the USS Intrepid from 1954 to ’58.
Jack met and married Eva Ream and had five children. They were longtime residents of Kalispell, where he worked as a logger and owned and ran his own saw mill. Jack also worked as a mechanic on the Trans Alaska pipeline and overseas in Nigeria.
In 1996 Jack retired to enjoy fishing, team roping, ATV riding and rebuilding Farmall tractors. After his first wife passed, he met and married his second wife, Eveyln Alford, in 2008. They enjoyed wintering in Arizona and summers in Idaho. Jack was an active member of the first Christian Church of Sandpoint.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Eva, sons Dale and Kim, brothers Joe and Dale, and granddaughter Billee Jo.
Viewing will be 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, May 27, at the Buffalo Hill Funeral Home in Kalispell, with services to follow at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 28, at the Little Brown Church in Bigfork. There will be a potluck luncheon following service in the basement of the church.