Michael Leo Kern, Sr.

Michael Leo Kern, Sr., 94, went home to be with the Lord Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2015.

He was born Sept. 2, 1921, in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., to Francis and Anna Margaret Kern. "Sonny," as he was called by his family, was their first born. Nine years later his mother passed away, leaving four small children. His father remarried and the family grew by four more girls, taking the count to eight siblings.

He grew up on a dairy farm a few miles out of town. Along with his dad, he would milk the cows in the early dawn hours. When the milking was done, he then delivered it all on his way to school. He spent long days in the corn fields behind mules and horses, from planting to harvest time. In 1939 he graduated from Ste Genevieve High School and joined the Army on Oct. 26, 1939.

While serving in the Army during WWII, he was stationed up and down the west coast. While in Portland, he met June Dunn, a beautiful young lady from Northeast Montana, working in the ship yards. They quickly fell in love and were married July 9, 1943.

In 1944, his unit, the 96th Infantry Division, was ordered to the Pacific theater, but he was given orders to remain in the U.S. as a troop instructor. He wanted to stay with the men he had trained with, so he refused the order, was demoted in rank and sent off to war. In fierce fighting, the 96th defeated the enemy on the island of Leyte in the Philippines and then on Okinawa. As a result of his actions, he received a number of awards and commendations, including the Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman Badge.

While he was overseas, June moved back to her parents' farm near Whitetail, and gave birth to their first child, Mike Jr. After the war, Mike Sr. and June lived in Scobey where their second child, Nancy, was born. Mike dug basements by hand under existing homes, worked on the dray line and was a school janitor. In 1950, they moved to Frazer where the family lived as dormitory parents and school bus driver. They enjoyed lifelong friendships with the students they were "parents" to and mentors. Years later, stories of those times would be shared sitting in Mike's furniture store when the former students, now much older adults, would come by.

In 1952, they moved to North Dakota. He worked in the oil field now called the Bakken, helped build Garrison Dam and later cored for uranium in Wyoming. In 1954, they moved to Wolf Point, arriving with 35 cents in their pocket. He worked in the service department for the Buick dealership and later the GM dealership.

When Mike, Jr. was 13 and Nancy 11, he and June got a big surprise! They were expecting, and Patti joined the family.

He became a letter carrier with the post office in 1961, a job he loved for the next 21 years, retiring on Sept. 18, 1981. He was quite honored to deliver more than one letter from the President of the United States to one of his patrons on his route. His mail route brought him by his own house, so he was always able to eat lunch at home with his wife, June, and take a 10- to 15-minute nap on the floor before continuing on with his route.

He was a founding member of the Wolf Point Federal Credit Union and served on their Board of Directors for many years. He always had a positive can-do attitude and served the community of Wolf Point well, being involved in many community events, usually behind the scenes, never in the limelight. He loved to do surprises for his family and others, preferring to go without any recognition.

He started Kern Furniture in Wolf Point in 1963, first selling used merchandise and furniture he bought at auctions. Then he taught himself to reupholster some pieces before selling them. He took on upholstering jobs and was very proud of the horse-drawn sleigh he was commissioned to redo. He covered many truck seats for area truckers. During this time he also self-taught himself to be an auctioneer and started a weekly consignment auction sale. His auctioneering time was short-lived, but he was able to do the "auction yodel" way into his 90s.

Eventually his used furniture store revolved into only new furniture and went from being open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday to more regular business hours. One of his greatest joys was when he bought a semi and furniture van. He could now drive directly to the furniture factories to purchase his store inventory. He later opened a second furniture store in Glasgow. When he closed the Glasgow store, daughter Nancy bought the building.

He started the Free Trader shopper paper, adding pressman to the long list of acquired talents. About a year later, he sold the paper to daughter Patti. The paper is in its 28th year of publication.

He acquired several rental houses in Wolf Point, making lifelong friends with many of his renters who were long term.

He was always designing, building and tinkering on something. Mike built three homes, an all-wood camper trailer that resembled a shoe box with the top half being raised by a pulley system, a motor home from the chassis up and a custom diamond-plated sleeper behind the cab of a semi-truck he hauled furniture in.

Christmas was a special time for him to make little ones smile. For years he dressed as Santa Claus, had June drive him around town so he could deliver sacks of candy, nuts and fruit to different families. Many of those families never knew who their "Mystery Santa" was until they were adults, as June parked down the street in the pickup and Mike would run and hop in the back and tell her to GO! When the grandchildren came along, he was able to play Santa for them.

He and June enjoyed 25-plus years of retirement traveling in a motor home or 5th wheel trailer in all but two or three states, most of the Canadian provinces and Mexico. They took their motor home on a train trip through Mexico, seeing Mexico's Grand Canyon and visiting many villages. They drove to Alaska twice, spending most of one summer there. Most of the time, they traveled solo, but on occasion they would travel with friends or relatives. He often volunteered to do construction and maintenance work on churches along the way.

He was preceded in death by his wife, June, who passed away in July of 2014, right after they celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary, and by a daughter, Nancy, in 2013.

Survivors include one son, Mike Jr., and his wife, Grace, of Michigan; one daughter, Patti Parcel, and her husband, Duane, of Wolf Point; one son-in-law, Don Turner, of Glasgow; eight grandchildren: Ginger, Michael III, Kim, Kevin, Kari, Kris, Josh and Matthew; and 13 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service was held Monday, Oct. 26, at 11 a.m. at Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel in Wolf Point, followed by interment with military honors at Greenwood Cemetery in Wolf Point.