Franklin 'Frank' J. Gimbel, 67

Franklin J. "Frank" Gimbel passed away peacefully, at the age of 67, on Sept. 8, 2007, doing what he loved in life, fishing at Skagway Reservoir, near Colorado Springs, Colo.

Frank was born Jan, 21, 1940, in Missoula.

He married his high school sweetheart, Linda Ott, on June 3, 1961, in Columbia Falls.

He spent four years in the U.S. Air Force, three of them at the USAFA Dental Clinic, followed by 16 years at Hewlett-Packard, and six years as a long-haul trucker.

He achieved the highest score ever recorded for the Air Force apprentice dental specialist or any other 3-level SKT, in 1961. He arrived at the USAFA by request in September of 1962.

Frank is survived by his wife, Linda; and two sons, Brian, a U.S. Navy lieutenant, and wife, Lucy, and grandchildren, Amanda and Nicholas, of Virginia Beach, Va., and Timothy, and wife, Monica, of Colorado Springs, and grandchildren, Mary and husband Chris, Robert, Catherine and friend Eryk, Steven and Patrick. His nine grandchildren called him "Grandpa Eeyore."

He is also survived by his brother, Don Gimbel, and wife, Gerry, of Columbia Falls; a sister, Marge (Gimbel) and husband, Bert May, of Kalispell; a sister, Claudette (Gimbel) Mills and her friend, Bruce of Spokane; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by a younger brother, Joel; and his parents, Alto and Janice (Grubb) Gimbel.

A life celebration will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14, at the Gimbel home. Call 719-310-7907. The family requests no flowers, please. Just come to share with the family how he touched your life.