By HDN Staff
JOHN KOSSEL
CHESTER -- John Kermit Kossel, 85, died at his home in Chester on Dec. 27, 1999 of natural causes.
Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Friday at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chester. Cremation will follow.
Kossel was born Nov. 24, 1914 in Omro, Wis. to George and Sarah (Hague) Kossel. The family came to the Flathead Valley of Western Montana.
Kossel lived with the Swagge family at Tiber, where he received his early education. He graduated from Chester High School in 1932. He subsequently broke horses for hire and delivered mail on the Chester-to-Whitlash route. He also worked as a bartender at the old Grand Bar in Chester.,
In 1931, Kossel married Mae Frydenlund.
In 1942, he was inducted into the U.S. Army and served during World War Two in the 3811th Quartermaster Truck Company. He attained the rank of technician 5. His notable military campaigns were at Normandy, Northern France, and Ardennes. He received an honorable discharge and returned to Montana in 1945.
Kossel worked for Skinny Wright at the Laas Bar in Chester and eventually moved to Kalispell to work for a brother-in-law at the old Dixie Inn.
On April 19, 1952, Kossel married Ila Myers Stearns at Conrad and they moved back to Chester. They managed the Golden West Bar and Cafe from 1953 to 1955.
In 1955, they purchased Sully's Bar in Galata. They sold the bar in 1994 and bought a home and retired to Chester. He continued to stay busy with his yardwork and garden.
Kossel was a life-time member of Chester VFW Post #3997.
Kossel was a self-educated man who enjoyed reading, especially histories and geographies. He also enjoyed TV, particularly Jeopardy.
Kossel was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Lucille Wilmes.
Kossel is survived by his wife, Ila, of Chester; daughters Donita Aman of Beaverton, Ore., and Donna Hellweg of Portland, Ore.; step-daughter Ardith "Tinky" Cushing of Chester; brother, Father Clifford Kossel of Spokane, Wash.; 11 grandchildren; many great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Arrangements are by Rockman Funeral Chapel of Chester.
