Sports booster Lou Bain dies at 84

The Daily Inter Lake

Longtime Kalispell sports booster Lewis "Lou" Bain, 84, died Friday at home after a lengthy illness.

Bain's involvement in local sports programs was a lifelong endeavor.

He was editor of the Flathead High School sports programs from 1947 to 2006 and chronicled local sports accomplishments in those programs and as sports reporter for the Kalispell Weekly News from the mid-1980s to the mid-'90s.

In recognition of his devotion to athletics, he was honored by the Legends Stadium committee as one of the first six inductees into the Flathead High School Hall of Fame.

Qualifications for his nomination included his own high school sports accomplishments.

Bain was all state and co-captain of Flathead's first state championship football team in 1939, and also was co-captain of the basketball and track teams.

He set school records in high and low hurdles, high jump and pole vault. Three of those records lasted more than 20 years.

He also was a state pole-vault champion.

He was a member and president of the original Downtown Coaches Club and later helped organize the Braves Bench.

IN ADDITION to his work as a sports booster, Bain was well-known for his expansive Christmas light displays.

Handmade displays of more than 25,000 lights spanned a spacious lot next to his Kalispell home and drew thousands of spectators through the years.

A World War II veteran, Bain was active in veterans affairs and for 25 years published a monthly newspaper carrying the banner of the veteran known as "The Topkicker."

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Christian Center in Kalispell.

A full obituary will be published Wednesday.