Joseph W. Krall, 94
Joseph W. Krall, 94, longtime farmer and teacher from Conrad/Sunburst, passed away from natural causes Jan. 5, 2009, at the Pondera Medical Center in Conrad.
Visitation is today, Jan. 8, after 4 p.m. with a rosary service set for 6 p.m. at the Whitted Funeral Chapel in Shelby. Funeral Mass will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Burial with military honors will be afterward in the Sunburst Cemetery. Whitted Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Condolences for the family may be sent to www.whittedfuneralchapel.com.
Joe was born Feb. 21, 1914, the eighth child in a family of 11 to Joseph F. and Mary (Kolar) Krall, in Bear Springs, where the family homesteaded. He graduated from grade school and high school in Lewistown. He attended Montana State University on a football scholarship, graduating with a degree in vocational agriculture in 1939.
While attending college he met the love of his life, Harriet McArdle, of Butte. They married Aug. 24, 1939.
Harriet, his wife of 69 years, survives him as do his daughters, Harriet Karst of Sunburst, and Cara and Ron Copenhaver of Menifee, Calif.; granddaughters, Teresa Karst of Kalispell, and Leza and Rob Curtis of Alta Loma, Calif.; and one great-grandson, Robert Curtis. Joe also is survived by sisters, Emily Schelly, Barbara Weir and Louise Coan; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Tom, Charles and James; sisters, Elizabeth, Nettie, Rose and Agnes; and his son-in-law, Bill Karst.
He loved hunting, fishing, camping, bird-watching and being outdoors. He and his wife took several trips in their RV, including to Alaska. Most of all, he loved sharing these pursuits, patiently untangling his children's fishing lines from the bushes. He helped local boys by taking them on trips to the Bob Marshall Wilderness and teaching them his trapping skills. He was especially proud of having participated in programs from Montana State University, in which he helped study the wolves in Yellowstone as well as other studies of wildlife and dinosaur digs.
He served with the U.S. Army as first lieutenant stationed in Hawaii shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He became involved with the American Legion and served as commander of the Sweet Grass Post No. 73, and in 1982 he served as state commander.
Joe taught voc-ag in various schools in Montana back before World War II and after. He came to the Sunburst area to teach a Veteran-of-War continuing education program. But, farming was in his blood and he bought a farm east of Sunburst in 1959. He retired in 1975, living in Sunburst, then moved to Conrad in 1997.
Joe will be remembered as having a great sense of humor and for his favorite trick of weaving a tale, which the listener would believe until with a twinkle in his eye, they knew they had been had. His family, friends and caregivers will miss his stories, poems, and sharing his knowledge of nature.