Alvin Ellsworth Tillson, 89

Alvin Ellsworth Tillson, 89, passed away on Friday, Feb. 12, 2010, at the North Valley Hospital in Whitefish. He was born on Jan. 31, 1921, in Missoula to George E. and Elizabeth M. (Peugh) Tillson. The family farmed at Toston until 1924, when they moved to the Flathead Valley off what is now LaBrant Road, and later moving to the Parker Brothers Ranch. Alvin attended Echo School and Bigfork High School, graduating in 1938. He participated in football, basketball and track. He worked during those years for the Parker Brothers, and cut Christmas Trees and did other woods work also. Alvin moved to Missoula and lived with his grandparents and became a glazier. He entered the Navy during World War II and served as an aviation machinist s mate, second class on lighter-than-air aircraft, patrolling the U.S. East Coast for enemy submarines. He was honorably discharged Dec. 2, 1945. He worked for Peter Kewitt and Sons at Point Barrow, Alaska, and Thule, Greenland. He then settled in northern Michigan for a short time. He met his bride-to-be through mutual friends, and he and Caroline Callie Hartman of Cook, Minn., were married May 5, 1956. They lived on Lake Blaine near Kalispell, where he built their home and later bought a neighboring house and rebuilt it where they resided for many years. He was a master carpenter and worked for Collins Construction where he built stores, apartment houses, schools and banks around the state. He built a house in Kalispell and later moved to a ranch at Trego to be near and care for his parents. After their death, he and Callie built a house on Glen Lake Road at Eureka. Callie died Nov. 22, 1992. He continued to live there until his death. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; his brother, Charles; and his aunt, Eva Chaffey. He is survived by his sister-in-law, Alice Tillson, of Kalispell; his niece, Sandra Inouye, and husband, Roger, of Lake Tapps, Wash., and her son, Tom Hendricksen, of Seattle, and daughter, Lara McDonnell, and husband, Tony, and her son, Andrew, and daughter, Sarah, all of Kalispell; his cousins, Ted Chaffey and family of Lake Blaine, and Karen Budds and family of Temecula, Calif.; also his dearest friend of 75 years, Fred Heim, of Whitefish. Funeral services for Alvin will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18, in the Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Chapel, with Pastor Ron Pierce officiating. Burial will be in the Glacier Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until the time of service on Thursday at the funeral home. The family suggests memorials by made to the Tobacco Valley Food Bank, or the Flathead Food Bank; or the donor s choice. Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home is caring for Alvin s family. You are invited to go to www.jgfuneralhome.com to offer condolences and view Alvin s tribute wall.