HOMER KINYON, Obituary

CHESTER Homer Burton Kinyon, 90, died Monday, April 15, 2002, at a Chester hospital.

Funeral services will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Chester with a reception following. Graveside services will be Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell.

Homer was born in Galata to May Pegg and James Kinyon on Jan. 10, 1912. He grew up in Galata and received his formal education there.

Homer was married four times. He married Ethel Markuson on Dec. 28, 1931, in Galata and she died in 1945. He married Eldora Lalum on Nov. 13, 1945, in Missoula and she died in 1987. He married Sylvia Hartsock on Nov. 8, 1987, in Columbia Falls and she died in 1992. He married Andrea J. Bubnash on Jan. 7, 1997, in Chester.

Throughout his life Homer lived in Galata, Kalispell, Joplin, Columbia Falls and Chester. In his later years he wintered in Arizona. He worked as a farmer for 42 years in Galata, Joplin and Kalispell. He drove school buses in Inverness, Whitefish and Joplin. He drove bus from 1952 to 1973, a 21-year span of 310,000 accident-free miles for the Joplin School. He worked four years at the Joplin School library.

When he officially retired from farming in 1974, Homer and Eldora spent their summers working for the state parks system at Flathead and Thompson lakes.

Homer was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and was a longtime member of Bethel Church in Joplin. He was a member of the Joplin Farmers Union and served on its board of directors for 20 years. He served as president of the Joplin TV District at its early inception.

Homer loved to travel. He had visited American Samoa, the Philippines, Alaska, Arizona and other states. Following Sylvia's death in 1992, he moved back to the Hi-Line community. He lived at the Sweetgrass Lodge in Chester, then moved to the Prairie Homes Apartments following his marriage to Andrea. When his health failed in 1999, he transferred to the Liberty County Nursing Home.

In his younger years Homer enjoyed hunting, fishing, trapping, baseball and softball. In later years he liked bowling and horseshoes. He was a lifelong lover of music and played the organ, piano, electric keyboard and accordion. In the Flathead Valley Homer raised beautiful gardens, especially roses and tomatoes. He operated a Christmas tree farm. He loved people and always tried to maintain a positive attitude to stay "young at heart."

Homer was preceded in death by his parents; his wives, Ethel, Eldora and Sylvia; son, James; brothers, Vern and Olen; a great-granddaughter. His only sister, Maggie McSweeney of Oelwein, Iowa, died on the same day as Homer.

Survivors include his wife, Andrea Kinyon of Chester; daughters, Esther May and her husband, Con, of Joplin, Myrna Orme and her husband, Bill, of Seattle, and Eldora Rosling and her husband, Bernie, of Lakeside; foster son, Evan Mueller of Arizona; 12 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; brothers, Brondle Kinyon of Shelby and Ray Kinyon of Chester; and numerous nephews and nieces.

Memorials may be made to St. Mary's Church or Liberty County Nursing Home in Chester.

Arrangements are by Rockman Funeral Chapel in Chester.