Obituary - Wallace H. Floren

On Oct. 7, 2014, our father, Wallace H. Floren, passed away peacefully in his sleep on his 96th birthday.

Dad was born in Grafton, North Dakota to Arthur and Gertrude Floren. He grew up in Havre, during the Depression years.

Dad had a special gift of mechanics and loved fishing and hunting with his dad and brother. After his high school years, he attended diesel school in Portland, Oregon, graduating in 1938.

In 1939 he married our mother, Helen Kapperud from Gildford, Montana. He went to work as a heavy equipment mechanic for construction in the Washington, D.C., area and then back to Montana in 1943.

Dad raised our family inside Glacier National Park while working on Hungry Horse Dam. He was one of the first employees to work on the dam and the last to leave.

Dad belonged to the operating engineers Union for approximately 73 years and was in constant demand for his outstanding ability to keep large equipment running in Montana and the Northwest.

Dad's hobbies included photography, motorcycles, guns and very fast cars and had the stories to back them up.

Dad was predeceased by his parents and wife, Helen; a brother, Clyde; and his grandson, Scott.

Dad is survived by his sons, Wally (wife, Pat); Larry (wife, Jackie); and daughter, Gloria Beardsley. He has nine grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nephews and nieces that will all truly miss him.

A memorial service will be held at a later date in Kalispell.