Dan DeJong

Dan DeJong passed away peacefully Sept. 26, 2006, after briefly battling cancer for the third time. Dan has left the world with a legacy of love, acceptance and respect that everyone who knew him profited by and learned from.

Dan was born 200 years too late. He absolutely loved everything that allowed his heart to beat to the rhythm of Native American drums. He was a true mountain man in every respect of the word.

Dan was born in 1939, and his young years were in California. He went to high school in Leavenworth, Wash., and many of his journal entries extol the adventures of a young man who loved the woods and looked for the adrenaline rush.

Dan, his parents and his sister came to live in Montana on a ranch in Pleasant Valley. When his parents retired, Dan took over the ranch. Dan was a man who not only worked this ground, but one who also actually derived his pulse from that land, and the wildlife and livestock that inhabited it.

Dan was the most educated man that most people will ever encounter, and that education was entirely acquired from his life experiences and genuine curiosity. Dan had a lifelong desire to learn and to teach. He was the most natural teacher in the world. He had an incredible knowledge of: birds, Native American artifacts, wildlife, archaeology, flowers, guns and weeds. He could name every tree, the habits of Montana big game, the best way to chip an arrowhead, the history of almost anything, and how to deliver a breach calf in the middle of the night.

Dan could repair almost anything if he had duct tape and bailing twine. Beyond ranching, Dan's vocations were: logging, thinning, tree planting and line construction. He most preferred ranching because he called the shots and could take off on a lion track if the opportunity arose. Dan kept a journal from the time he was a teenager, and these books chronicle a life of hunting adventures and risky escapades.

It is nearly impossible to say who Dan is survived by. Everyone who knew him became his kin. His wife, Pat DeJong, her sons, Joe Howard and Justin "Shorty" Mack; Brandy Howard, Jason and Justin; Brandie Mack and Kennedy; Dan's daughters, Laili Komenda and Rena Albertson, and their mother, Lynn York, and her sister Bonnie; Brad Komenda, Tyler and Travis and the rest of the Komendas; Todd Albertson, Danny DeJong, Lauren Faulkner, Cameron and Mason; Dan's sister, Dorothy Homann, her husband, Bob, and children Greg and Kelli; soul brother, Keith and his wife, Marilyn Barnett, Lee Barnett and children, Joe Porter and family, Betty Violette and Billy; Lee, Rosalee, and their children, Bob Grey and George Howe from Libby, Rich and Judy Peterson, Bill and Dave Kerchanski, Francis Auld, Alan Ruby and family, Bill and Phyllis Lynch (Boy, did he love those fish!); hunting buddies, Dave Chichester and family, and all of the Page family; cousins, extended cousins, every hunting buddy, bird watcher, artifact hunter, arrowhead maker and fellow rancher who shared interest and passion with Dan. He also leaves behind every stray dog, cute baby, abandoned bird or needy child that received his tender loving care. The doctors and nurses in Libby and Kalispell - anyone who met him loved him and will miss him dearly, especially Dr. Hunt and Dr. Boehme.

"We all derive comfort in knowing that he is now soaring with eagles."

Thank you to all the loving people who supported us in our days saying goodbye to this dear man.

Among many others, Dan joins his parents, Cousin Tom, Paul Barnett and Mae York "in Heaven."

Next summer, Dan's ashes will be spread on the land by Island Lake that he loved so much. He will join his parents there, Louis and Babe DeJong. Please contact a family member if you would like to be a part of this celebration of Dan's life.

The family recommends that memorials in Dan's name be made to: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Idaho/Montana Chapter, 600 N. Curtis Road, Suite 170, Boise, ID 83706; or an educational cause of your choice.

He would prefer we weren't grieving, but instead were working toward treatments of this disease or continuing our quest to be lifelong learners.