Bobby Meister, 73

Bobby Meister, known to friends as “Bob,” passed away on Jan. 5, 2019, at the age of 73, following a short, unexpected battle with cancer.

Bob was born Sept. 13, 1945, to Art and Grace Meister in Winner, South Dakota. Bob graduated from Winner High School in 1963.

Following graduation, Bob was recruited to play basketball at Black Hills State College before joining the U.S. Army in 1965. Bob was a member of the 128th Assault Helicopter Company where he served two tours in Vietnam.

After his military service he attended Ball State University where he earned a civil engineering/construction management degree and worked for the state of South Dakota Highway Depart-ment.

In 1971, Bob started his career with the Department of Trans-portation and married Nancy Wagner in the fall of 1972. In 1973, he moved to Elk Point, South Dakota, and took a position with the Union County Highway Depart-ment. He continued working in Elk Point until 1992 when he moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and became the Public Works director/engineer for the Minnehaha County Highway Department.

In September of 1993, he married Mary Adkins. They complemented each other in a so many ways and together they were the perfect parents and grandparents.

They continued to live and work in Sioux Falls until the fall of 2011 when they retired and moved to Kalispell. In 2013, Bob was inducted into the South Dakota Transportation Department Hall of Honor for his numerous years of dedication to the state of South Dakota.

Bob served on the boards of numerous organizations, including serving as county road advisor for the Federal Highway Administration for 20 years.

He was also active in the VFW, American Legion, Elks, Sunriser Lions, as well as volunteering on the Kalispell PeeWee Baseball board. He spent many hours volunteering for Meals on Wheels, Lone Pine State Park, the Veterans Food Pantry, Conrad Mansion and numerous other organizations in the Sioux Falls and Kalispell communities.

Upon retirement, Bob and Mary followed their grandkids to games, races, tournaments, dance recitals, concerts and plays.

Grandpa Bob was always sure his grandkids were the smartest, fastest, most athletic, and most talented children participating.

Although he never bragged about his own accomplishments, he often bragged about his kids and grandkids. Bob and Mary loved to travel. They would collect Christmas ornaments for their “travel tree.” They had recently spent the cold Montana winter months in Arizona.

Bob is survived by his wife Mary of Kalispell. He is also survived by his son Corey of Dallas, Greg (Lori) Adkins of Kalispell, Kurt (Katy) of Kalispell, Brad (Holly) Adkins of Portland, and his estranged son Collin. Grandpa Bob will be missed by his grandkids Brittany, Jayci, Preston, Brock, Mac, Zachary (Dusty) and his great-granddaughter Braylee. He is survived by brother Tim (Maris) of Oakland, Tennessee, sister Candy (Mick) of Wright, Wyoming, sister-in-law Karen Goligoski of Hamilton, Montana, and brothers-in-law Jim (Cathy) Carlisle of Billings and Mick (Laura) Carlisle of Calgary, Alberta, in addition to numerous nieces and nephews.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents Art and Grace Meister, and his younger brother Rick.

A celebration of Bob’s life will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, at Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home & Crematory. A reception will be held at Village Greens Community Center following the graveside service.

Condolences in memory of Bob can be mailed to Mary Meister at P.O. Box 9311, Kalispell, MT 59904.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home is caring for the family.