Fred Kindle

Fred Kindle, 81, passed away peacefully the morning of Tuesday, July 19, 2016, of natural causes at the Hi-Line Retirement Center.

He was born July 8, 1935, at their homestead south of Saco, Mont., to Roy and Laura (Baker) Kindle. He was raised in this area and completed grades one through eight at the Bowdoin School before going to work full time on the ranch. In June of 1956, he joined the Army National Guard and was honorably discharged in June of 1964. During this time he attained the rank of E6 Staff Sergeant and was a tank commander.

He married Mary Alice Duty on Valentine's Day 1963. He and his brothers built a house in the Bowdoin community and called it home until 1997. He and Mary raised three boys and a bunch of cattle on this place. Over the years he added on an attached underground garage to the house, a shop to the west, and another large, underground storage shed to the south. If you knew Fred, he liked to keep his vehicles and machinery out of the weather. In the summer of 1997, they moved to a house in town, which soon became a house with a shop in the back yard. Having the shop allowed him to continue to mechanic, fabricate and yes, keep his equipment out of the weather.

He wore many hats during his life. He was first and foremost a rancher and was very proud of his Black Angus herd. He also owned and operated his own heavy equipment, was a partner in a Polaris dealership in Malta, and trucked a lot cattle around the county with some trips to the local markets. His hobbies included two-, three- and four-wheeled bikes and snowmobiles. He was a pretty fair rider and also knew how to keep them running, which was handy for his boys and many in others in the community.

He was preceded in death by an older brother, Arlyn; his parents; his youngest son, Jack; and his good friend and neighbor, Jimmy Salsbery.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Alice; two sons, TJ "Tom" and Mildred "Millie" Kindle and their sons, Frank, Robert and Pat, and Bryan and Camille "Sam" (Pippin) Kindle and their kids, Reese, Kristen and Sawyer; and two brothers, Floyd and Sharon Kindle and Ray and Rose Kindle.

Funeral services were at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 22, at Kirkwood Memorial Chapel in Malta. A viewing was from noon until 7 p.m. on Thursday. Interment with Military Honors will be in the Malta Cemetery, followed by a luncheon at the Malta Community Church. Memorials may be made to the Shiners' Children's Hospital, P.O. Box 1355, Malta, MT 59538 or Montana School for the Deaf and Blind, 3911 Central Ave, Great Falls, MT 59405. Condolences for the family may be left at http://www.kirkwoodfuneralhome.com or sent to Mary Kindle, PO Box 257, Malta, MT, 59538.

And Thank You to the Country Home and Hi Line Retirement Center for making it possible to keep Dad close to family and home.