Lincoln Eugene "Gene" Sears, 82,

"went to be with the Lord" on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008, at Immanuel Lutheran Home in Kalispell. He died of natural causes.

Gene was born in Columbus, on Lincoln's birthday, Feb. 12, 1926, to Scott and Viola Sears. He was one of 10 children.

Most of his childhood was spent in Columbus where he was surrounded by family, and his days were filled with fishing, hunting and the great outdoors.

He married his high school sweetheart, Helen "Dixie" Herbert in Livingston on Sept. 17, 1944. They moved to Billings and had two children, Ronald and Deborah.

For most of his life, Gene was employed as an ironworker and he worked in various places throughout the West. A few of the projects he worked on in Montana were, Fort Peck Dam, Yellowtail Dam, Libby Dam and missile sites in central Montana.

In 1971, he and Dixie, and their son Ron, bought a ranch in Star Meadows. At that time, there was no electricity or paved road and they got their water via gravity from a spring. He thought it was great!

Gene was a cowboy at heart and loved ranching. He loved the animals, especially horses, and all stray dogs and cats were always welcome. He bought a mountain skidder and a D7 Cat and logged the wooded areas of the ranch. He enjoyed tinkering with the farm machinery and logging equipment and could jerry-rig anything together. In the mid 1980s, they sold the ranch and moved to Kalispell.

Gene was a devoted husband and father and took great delight in all his grandchildren and their activities. He will be deeply missed.

Gene was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Helen Ruth Herbert Sears; his parents, Scott Sears and Viola Riekofski Sears; his brothers, Jack, Bill, Walt, Fred and Sam; and his sister, Lorraine.

He is survived by his brothers, Bob and Stan Sears; and sister, Kay Nybo of Billings; son, Ron, and wife, Leslie, of Kalispell; daughter, Debbie DeVries, and husband, Albert, of Conrad; and grandchildren, Ronda DeVries of Conrad, Ty DeVries and wife Cassie of Conrad, Kyna Bighorn and husband Channon of Sidney, Josh Sears and wife Jenna of Medford, Ore., and Jon Sears and wife Marika of Anchorage, Alaska; great-grandchildren, Shelby DeVries, Kindle and Jason DeVries of Conrad, and Keith, Kelli, and Kristin Bighorn of Sidney.

The family will have a private memorial service at a later date.