Obituaries

The Bigfork Eagle runs obituaries and death notices for people who have lived in the Bigfork area. To submit, e-mail editor@bigforkeagle.com or call 837-5131. Deadlines are every Monday at noon.

Harry 'Duke' Sultzer

Lt. Col. Harry Dukehart Sultzer, USAF Ret., filed his final flight plan Dec. 18, following a stroke.

Duke was born in Butte on June 11, 1928. His father's job with the Department of Reclamation took the family from the Fort Peck Dam project to Oklahoma, Michigan and Buffalo, N.Y., where he graduated from high school. Duke returned to Butte to attend Montana State School of Mines (now Montana Tech).

While in Oklahoma, Duke worked as a janitor so he could take flying lessons. He soloed at age 15.

In 1949, he followed his flying dream and joined the new U.S. Air Force.

While in Butte, he courted Linforth Murray. Duke and Lin eloped in 1952, marrying in Decatur, Miss.

Duke's Air Force career spanned 32 years, with combat service in Korea and Vietnam as a fighter pilot and field maintenance officer. In 1966 he was awarded the Air Medal for Meritorious Achievement while participating in aerial flight. Tours of duty in Japan, Virginia, Germany, Kansas and California afforded his family many wonderful adventures. Duke's happiest day assignment was in 1990 when he and Lin arrived in Bigfork with the truck, the dog and the gun.

He was a member of the Montana Skeet Shooting Association. In 2008 at age 80, Duke was inducted into the MSSA Hall of Fame in recognition of shooting accomplishments and contribution to the sport of skeet shooting.

He was also awarded the DuBois-Kinker award from the Zone 7 Skeet Shooting Association for his hard work and contributions.

An avid golfer, Duke was a charter member of the Roosters at Eagle Bend Golf Club.

He began a "wife saver" old boys lunch brunch. Every week the old boys gathered for lunch at many area restaurants. He also formed bridge and poker groups. He was a most happy fellow.

Duke is survived by his wife Lin, sons HD III, Thom M. and wife Michelle Ginger; Karl L. and wife Cindy; daughter Gretchen and husband Neil Beddow; grandchildren Dylan and Keeva Beddow, and Karl's son Thad. He will be remembered for his smile and twinkle of eye.

Cremation has taken place. Memorial services will be held in mid-April in Bigfork.

Memorials may be sent to the Bigfork QRU, 810 Grand Drive, Bigfork MT 59911.

Cecile R. Grinde

Cecile Rebecca Grinde, 89, of Prineville, Ore., and past resident of Bigfork, died Dec. 28.

No service will be held at this time.

She was born July 10, 1920, in Moorhead, Minn., to Henry Christian Rehder and Ottillia Francisca Aigner, both German immigrants.

After attending high school, Cec enrolled in Moorhead State College and received a teaching degree in 1941. She first taught in Big Falls, Minn., and then in East Moline, Ill. She moved to San Diego, Calif., in 1943 and worked summers for Ryan Aeronautical, building bombers for the U.S. military. In 1945 she took a teaching position in Wasco, Calif., teaching migrant farm children.

During that time, she met her husband, Kenneth M. Grinde, a homeward-bound Army veteran from Minneapolis. He was working as an electrician in Bakersfield, Calif. Cec and Ken returned to Minnesota and married in 1947. They raised three children while Ken pursued an ambitious career as an aerospace engineer for Lockheed Martin.

In 1972 the couple moved to Bigfork. Ken started Grinde Construction a few years later. Cec kept the books for Ken's business and did substitute teaching in the Bigfork schools. She volunteered at the Village Square and the Bigfork Library for many years. In her spare time, she loved to sew and pursue her hobbies of crochet, watercolor painting, gardening, cooking and baking. Her family, and especially the grandchildren, fondly remember her many delicious treats.

Cec began to have serious health problems and by 2005 Cec and Ken relocated to Prineville to live near their daughter, Lorna Hamilton and her husband Bill.

Cecile is survived by her husband Ken Grinde of Prineville, her sister Priscilla Malakowsky of Colorado, her son Dan Grinde of Columbia Falls, her son Keith Grinde of Bigfork, her daughter Lorna Hamilton of Prineville, seven grandchildren and seven great-grand children.

Cec was a devoted and loving wife, mother and grandmother who took great care of her family and friends. She will be greatly missed.

A memorial will be held in Bigfork in the spring or summer of 2010 and her ashes will be scattered along the Swan River, which she dearly loved.

Memorial suggestions are the PMH Hospice of Prineville or the QRU of Bigfork.

The family is entrusting Whispering Pines Funeral Home with the arrangements.

Jerrold W. Collins

Jerrold William "Jerry" Collins, 67, died Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010, at his residence in Kalispell.

He was born Sept. 6, 1942, in Kalispell, the son of John William and Ada E. (Lloid) Collins.

He graduated from Bigfork High School in 1960. He had joined the National Guard in 1959 and served in the U.S. Navy from January 1962 until May 1966. He married Judy Sears on Sept. 21, 1966, in Bigfork.

He worked in the woods, road construction and began work at the CFAC Aluminum Plant in Columbia Falls from Jan. 29, 1969, until May 2003 when he retired due to asbestosis.

He loved to take his family hunting and fishing and participated in the many sporting events of his sons. He coached them and many of their friends in baseball, basketball, soccer and wrestling. Many of those boys still call him Coach Collins and have stayed in touch through the years.

He was a member of the North Valley Eagles, Kalispell Moose Lodge and a lifetime member of the Bigfork VFW Post #2252 and DAV Post #4 in Kalispell as well as American Legion Post #86 and a proud member of the United Veterans of the Flathead Valley.

He is survived by his wife Judy Collins of the family home in Kalispell; his four sons, Jerry Collins and his partner Mel of Belgrade; John "BJ" Collins and wife Kami of Kalispell; Jamie Collins and wife Grace of Wasilla, Alaska; and Jody Collins and wife Heather of Pendleton, Ore.; 10 grandchildren and many "adopted" grandchildren; his aunt Stella West of Oregon as well as his constant companion, his beloved dog "Missy."

He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Ada Collins, and his father-in-law William Sears.

Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, at Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Chapel with Pastor Ron Pierce officiating. Visitation for Jerry was from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8, at Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home.

Burial followed services at Glacier Memorial Gardens with full military honors. The family suggests memorial contributions be made to Home Options Hospice at 175 Commons Loop, Suite #100, Kalispell, MT 59901.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home is caring for Jerry's family. Visit www.jgfuneralhome.com to offer condolences and sign Jerry's guest book.