Timothy A. Crail, 77

Timothy A. Crail, 77, passed away on Saturday, March 14, 2009, at Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell, surrounded by close relatives. On April 5, in 1931, the son of Lloyd Timothy and Bertha Mae (Murray) Crail in Kalispell — a newcomer the family would later think of as the "Irish Imp" — joined what would soon be a circle of five Crail youngsters, Tim being number four.

Is it tough to be fourth in a field of five? Yes, but when you're Tim, you learn the tactics of making things work out your way anyway.

In high school, closely following his older brother Ted (No. three) they argued and fought 'such skirmishes were the way multiple siblings could prepare the young for the world ahead). A war was afoot in the years just after Tim's graduation from Flathead High School. (World War II was over, this was the Korean War) and Tim learned, serving in the Air Force, to be a radar operator, spending that war mostly in Biloxi, Miss.

His stay in the military turned out to be a career-maker for him. Soon enough he was a microwave engineer working for Howard Hughes Aircraft in California, an organization that was breaking new ground in devising instruments needed for the country's operations in outer space. Tim had taken courses in California colleges, including UCLA. The "imp" (who was not really impish in this new setting) became a team leader for Hughes.

Kalispell, where five in his family had grown up (but four of them taking off for other parts), seemed a long way from the technology fronts, but Flathead High graduates could be equal to most anything. The imp did well. Life though, became very real very early for Timothy Allen Crail.

No high school prepares you for tragedy. The imp married the first of several wives (Heleny, Lorraine, Cecily) and he had three children ("precious pearls").

Two of them, Kenny and Kim, were killed in an automobile accident; another died very young from a kidney ailment. Life had taken a cruel turn.

Later, Tim would become father, as he once wrote, to "two adopted children, two stepchildren, two children with myself as the biologic father."

Tim the "Indomitable," a word that would fit him through the years, was going on. That indomitable approach served him well — it was decades after his forays into the wonders of microwave engineering that he returned in semi-retirement to the Flathead.

His son, Peter Crail, now living in Silver Springs, near Washington, D.C., serves as a spokesman for an arms control organization. His daughter, Krystle, was recently promoted to store manager in Los Angeles. Yolanda Crail, mother of Peter, Krystle, Brenton and Shermain, was married to Tim for 25 years before they divorced, and he left California for his Montana homeland.

Co-author of patents on testing techniques for space age antennas, his final post had been as a senior project engineer working on classified projects at Raytheon.

Not content with his engineering work for Hughes and Raytheon, Tim had two major projects in hand during his later life.

One was converting a hilltop home in Los Angeles into a landmark of the area near the Los Angeles airport. He converted the existing structure into a tall round house and it included six bedrooms, plus office areas with a small fleet of computers for specialized graphics and writings. His second project, which he worked on for many years, was an attempt to redesign the freeway and mass traffic systems throughout the U.S. to save money, fuel and sweat in transportation. This was unfinished at the time of his death. In his working years he had received an award for cost-cutting ideas that saved millions for his employers.

"Tragedies in his life and how he met them showed his strength," a relative said. "He felt he'd had a great life."

The Irish imp became, along the way, a role model in how to react to the tragic and the unexpected. He called his mentor in this, Buddha — most of us call him God.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Lloyd and Bertha.

He is survived by his son, Peter Crail, of Silver Springs, Md.; his daughter, Krystle Crail, of Los Angeles; his adopted children, and stepchildren include David Crail of Los Angeles, Malia Gutierrez of Riverside, Calif., Brenton Taff of West Los Angeles, Calif., and Shermain Flowers of Irvine, Calif.; his brothers, Ted Crail of Kalispell, and Rev. Donn Crail of Claremont, Calif.; and two sisters, Peggy Byrne and Ruth Broeder, both of Kalispell. Adopting Kalispell anew, he met here his enduring companion, Michelle Field, of Somers. He also leaves behind the "two best girls' in his life, his black labs, Shelly and Raven.

Tim left word that no funeral was to follow his death and directed cremation. His family members plan to scatter his ashes in the Montana outdoors at a gathering of many relatives in mid-summer.

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