Craig 'Finny' Finberg, 51
Craig "Finny" Finberg passed away peacefully March 20, 2009, surrounded by family and friends at his home in Dillon after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Craig was born May 6, 1957, to Math and Norma Finberg and grew up in Columbia Falls.
He graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 1975, attended Montana State University and finished his degree at UM-Western in Dillon. He recently accomplished one of his lifelong dreams and earned his Masters of Sports Science degree from the United States Sports Academy in 2007.
While attending CFHS, he became a basketball legend. Craig earned all-state honors and set a single game scoring record of 40 points during the divisional championship game and led his team to a second-place finish at the state tournament. He was elected to the CFHS Hall of Fame upon graduating in 1975.
After completing high school, he accepted a scholarship to play basketball for the Montana State University Bobcats. Upon completion of his career, he was fourth in school history in scoring with 1,473 points, putting him in eighth place on the all-time Big Sky Conference list. He also owned the single-season assist record with 148, and the single-game mark with 16. His free-throw-shooting percentage of 84.9 percent was a school record, as was his career record of 84.1 percent. He also earned All- Big Sky Conference honors for three consecutive years and was inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 2003. After a brief career in the CBA and a tryout with the NBA's Portland Trailblazers, he began his coaching career under Casey Keltz at UM-Western.
Craig began his head-coaching career at Dillon's Beaverhead County High School. In his 18-year career at BCHS, he is the most successful coach in school history with 281-160 overall record and state championships in 1990 and 1999. The 1990 title was the first state title of any kind for the school since 1946.
After his retirement from coaching at Dillon's Beaverhead County High School, he returned to the Bulldog bench to assist Mark Durham for one season, and was an assistant on Steve Keller's staff for the past two seasons. He continued to teach at Beaverhead County High School.
During his life, Craig was an avid sports enthusiast and passionately supported his Minnesota Vikings and Twins, but nothing compared to his love of the game of basketball and being able to coach and teach. He always had a saying to live by "take a negative and turn it into a positive," which is how we will remember him.
He also looked forward to traveling with his wife, Tammy, and often spoke about how much he enjoyed the times when he could just mow his lawn on a sunny day and play with his kitty cats.
Craig married the love of his life, Tammy, on June 26, 2004, in Las Vegas.
He is survived by Tammy; stepson, Shane Sutton (wife, Annie, and their son, Joshua); stepson, Dustin Sutton; mother, Norma Finberg, and Dick Collier; sister, Cheryl Rice (husband, Dave, and their sons, Shane and Brandon (wife, Jessica, and their son, Trey); brother, Chris (wife, Cathy, and their children, Camie (husband, Randy Northrop, and their children, Samantha, Kayla and Kyler); Christopher (fiance, Colleen); sister, Cathy; brother, Cary (wife, Angie, and their daughters, Ciera and Cydney); and mother and father-in-law, Tink and Julie Krause. He also is survived by numerous cousins, aunts and uncles. His father, Math, preceded Craig in death, as well as both sets of grandparents.
Memorial services will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 26, at Columbia Falls High School. Services in Dillon will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 28, at the high school, with a reception immediately afterward at the UM-Western Keltz Arena.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either the Columbia Falls Wildcat Endowment Fund or to a Memorial Scholarship fund at the Beaverhead County High School.
The family wishes to express their sincere gratitude for the outpouring support from everyone whose lives were touched by Finny. May his memory live on forever. "We will miss you, Craig."