Robin 'Rob' Augustine, 52

Rob's dreams of living in the Flathead came to an end June 22, 2009, when he died in the Ronald Reagan U.C.L.A. Medical Center waiting for a lung transplant, with his wife at his side.

He met and fell in love with Betsy Boylan, originally from Kalispell, in Temecula, Calif. They were married in Riverside, Calif., on July 21, 1997. Then they visited Betsy's parents in Kalispell, and he fell in love with Montana, and bought property in Marion where he hoped to build a home. Even though he and Betsy maintained a beautiful ranch in Hemet, Calif., with horses, cows, a big orchard with fruit trees and a grape vineyard, he still wanted to move to Montana.

Almost every summer when they visited in Kalispell, you would find Rob fishing under the Old Steel Bridge, or at Little McGregor, or at other fishing spots, going camping in Glacier Park with Betsy and her brother, Justin Boylan, browsing the local pawn shops for knives to add to his collection, or the Sportsman and Murdoch's for Western gear for his wife.

He always loved to have dinner at the Back Room in Columbia Falls, and pizza at Moose's when he visited. He read books about Montana and just loved everything about it, even the cold winters when he and Betsy would come for Christmas. He read the Inter Lake online every morning and then would call his mother-in-law, Lavella Boylan, to discuss the items and events in it. She always looked forward to his calls.

Life will never be the same without Rob, especially for his wife Betsy, who resides in Hemet; his mother, Lois Morse, who resides in Temecula, Calif.; his in-laws, the Boylans, here in Kalispell, who loved him very much; and all his relatives and friends in California. He was always an optimist, even at the end, and said he was in God's hands as to whether he got some new lungs or not.

"We know he is in heaven now, can breathe again, and is fishing in a place like Montana."