Kless, Williams shared passion for the environment

The families of the two young men who died in the plane crash near Dixon are remembering their loved ones as bright, adventurous outdoorsmen and environmentalists who died in the beautiful mountainous terrain they loved.

Sonny Kless, 25, of Missoula, just graduated from the University of Montana and had obtained his pilot’s license about a year ago.

He was the pilot of the small plane that crashed southwest of Dixon.

Kless was a good friend of Brian Williams, 28, a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, native who would have been a second-year law student at the University of Montana. Williams was one of three passengers on the plane.

“It’s a terrible, terrible loss for all the families,” Michelle Gentry, Kless’ aunt, told The Associated Press on Wednesday afternoon after learning there were no survivors in the crash.

“It’s just a tragedy. I think [Kless] was out doing something he loved to do.”

Williams’ aunt, Marilyn Kennedy, told the Coeur d’Alene Press on Wednesday that the loss of Brian is a blow to the family, especially since his cousin died last year in a football accident.

“He [Brian] was just a great kid,” Kennedy said. “There were four of them [cousins] born that summer who were really close, so it’s hitting the kids really hard.”

Rebecca Prochaska, who knew Williams when he attended school in Coeur d’Alene and is friends with his relatives, told the Coeur d’Alene Press “he meant a lot to a lot of people.

“I know he was a really, really good person and had a huge impact on a lot of people, and will continue to,” she said.

Kless, whose mother, Janelle Gentry, is from Kalispell, received a degree this spring in environmental studies and communications.

Vicki Watson, one of his environmental studies professors at UM, described him as “very dedicated to building a more sustainable and equitable world. He worked very hard on sustainable agriculture, waste reduction, just all the things that we associate with green living.”

Williams shared Kless’ passion for preserving the environment. The two had attended an environmental conference in Washington, D.C.

“They care about this country,” Williams’ mother, Donna, told the Inter Lake.