William Patrick 'Bill' Ward, 79

Back in the day, in Old Bigfork during the '50s and '60s, when phones weren't working correctly anywhere from Creston to Condon, people would put in a call to "Bill" Ward.

Often those calls were made right to his home, at all hours of the day and night. A handsome, muscular, down-to-earth sort of guy would show up in your yard to fix whatever was ailing 7-0000 or later, TERrace-0000, phone numbers.

Bill's ability to scale skinny telephone poles, find a loose wire in a handset, or assure a distraught pet owner that their kitty would come to no harm in the top of a tree were legendary.

William Patrick "Bill" Ward died Thursday morning, Oct. 16, 2008, in Kalispell at 79 years of age. The once-robust lineman, artist, outdoorsman and family man succumbed to declining health and complications from diabetes.

William and Hazel (Knudson) Ward's newborn son Bill arrived in Minot, N.D., on Jan. 27, 1929. He graduated from St. Leo's High School there in May 1947.

While attending college in St. Cloud, Minn., Bill began working for a telephone contractor, installing and repairing equipment. This job eventually took him on the road. During this time he met Dolores Mozer, and they were married in 1949 in Pontiac, Ill.

The couple moved west, settling in the Flathead Valley in 1950, first in Kalispell, then Bigfork, and finally down in the heart of Woods Bay. Bill continued his work in telephone communications successively with Mountain State Power, Pacific Power and Light, Northwest Telephone Systems, Telephone Utilities, and lastly, Pacific Telecom Inc. of Gig Harbor, Wash.

But Bill was not just a pole climber, he was pretty much a can-do-just-about-anything sort of a fellow. Lack of training or expertise in a given pursuit were seldom much of a deterrent. Bill would read up, talk to people, use his own native instinct about things, and usually be able to make a good showing in whatever he was doing. In the old family garage in Woods Bay in the '60s, he and a young, struggling artist neighbor did some homework and cobbled together a working bronze foundry. The young artist eventually became world-known for his Western art, Fred Fellows by name.

Bill cast several of Fellows' early pieces and even produced a few of his own creations, being fairly crafty and artistic in his own right.

Back in those days, Bill, Dot, their three daughters and four sons, and black Lab, Casey, were a familiar part of the Woods Bay community. Everyone worked hard, had chores and duties, and knew their places. There were folks who for many, many years couldn't recall a time when there wasn't a Ward kid playing basketball, football, baseball or track. Bill was also a longtime member of the fledgling Bigfork Volunteer Fire Department.

As hard as he worked, Bill played hard as well. He and his Browning O/U and L.C. Smith single shotguns were fixtures to be reckoned with at the trap and skeet club in Somers, started by Chris Levengood. Over the years in the fall, many mountainsides in the Swan echoed with the thunder from his favorite Model 70 .375 Holland and Holland elk rifle. He also loved to hunt pheasant and fish, both in fresh water and on the ocean. His old PP and L electrician counterpart, Fred Harris, and he spent many a cold, dreary morning hunkered down in a duck blind along the river, waiting for a flight of mallards to come whistling overhead.

Then there was water skiing and vintage wooden speedboats, ChrisCraft and Stan Craft, with the likes of the late Bud Brandewie. He was also into ammunition reloading and gun-barrel bluing.

Bill and Dolores separated and divorced in 1975.

In March 1984, Bill and Mary Jo Gifford were married in Gig Harbor. He continued to work in communications there until retiring in 1991 after 41 years in telephone service. Winters were spent in Yuma, Ariz.; summers often were enjoyed in the Flathead. He and Mary Jo bought land in Woods Bay, spending a few summers, then clearing and preparing ground for the home they would share until his passing. Traveling and family were often also on the agenda.

Bill was preceded in death by both parents and a sister.

He now is survived by his wife, Mary Jo, in Woods Bay; eight children, Terry and L.D. Gross of Bigfork, William and Yvonne Ward of Long Beach, Wash., Shawn and Linda Ward of Dillon, Kathleen and Mike Cole of Kodiak, Alaska, Michael and Carol Ward of Woods Bay, Mary Ward and John Coon of Bigfork, Robert and Tami Ward of Kalispell, and stepson, Mark Gifford, of Everett, Wash.; 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; plus numerous nieces and nephews. He is also survived by a sister, Sharon and Albert Bossert, of Drake, N.D.

A memorial reception for Bill will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, at the Swan River Hall in Bigfork.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for Bill's family. You are invited to go to www.jgfuneralhome.com to offer condolences and sign Bill's guest book.