LeRoy Walter Brown, 85
LeRoy Walter Brown 85, passed away at his home on April 2, 2005 in Whitefish of natural causes.
LeRoy was born on Jan. 22, 1920 in Rice Lake, Wis. LeRoy's family came to Montana in 1929 and lived and worked on a sheep ranch near Bynum. He moved to Whitefish in 1940 and married Winifred Wood in 1942 at St. Mathews Church in Kalispell. They have three daughters: Linda, Sherry and Raye. In 1961 through the Catholic Dioceses of Helena, they became foster parents to Mary Terry and Julio Delgado, two Cuban children exiled by communism.
LeRoy started work with the post office in 1942. He started his career as a railroad engineer for the Great Northern Railroad in 1944 and retired in 1984.
He was a longtime Little League baseball coach. He was actively involved with Babe Ruth and Glacier Twins baseball for years. He was instrumental in the modernization of Memorial Field and spent many hours grooming the field for games. Roy was a longtime supporter of Whitefish High School athletics.
During LeRoy's retirement he was involved with the Knights of Columbus and the North Valley Food Bank. LeRoy was an avid outdoorsman who liked to camp, hunt and fish. He was the unofficial mayor of the Tally Lake campground.
LeRoy was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Amy Brown; wife Winifred "Wini"; brothers John, Art and Ward; sisters Alice and Julia and granddaughter Heather Anderson.
He is survived by longtime companion Pat Jarvi; children Raye "Cookie" and (Ray) Fleming, Julio (Benilda) Delgado and Linda (Dennis) Bordeleau in Lincoln, Sherry (Tom) Anderson in Cashmere, Wash., Mary (Tony) Carraros of Miami, Fla. and Elaine (Ray) Poser of Missoula. Grandchildren include Yvette and Jeff Gordon, Denise Bordeleau, Teri Kaye and Larry Rupp, Aubrey Anna Cravey, Matt Hellums, Shawn and Tracy Anderson, Vinny and Jose Delgado, Eric and Trevor Poser and 9 great grandchildren.
A celebration of LeRoy's life will be held during a rosary at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, at the Austin Funeral Home in Whitefish. A Mass of the Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 6, at the St. Charles Boromeo Catholic Church in Whitefish with the Rev. John Dimke and the Rev. Pat Patton as celebrants.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Austin Funeral Home in Whitefish. Interment will follow the mass at the Glacier Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Kalispell.
In Lieu of flowers the family suggests memorials be made to the Glacier Twins organization in care of Rita Hanson, 100 E. Second, Whitefish, MT 59937.