William L. 'Bill' Peters, 78

William L. "Bill" Peters died Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011, at 8:30 in the evening at Whitefish Care & Rehabilitation Center (the old Colonial Manor Nursing Home) with his wife at his side. He was 78.

Bill was born Oct. 27, 1932, in Sydney, Australia, the third of four children born to George and Leah (Reid) Peters, including his sister, June and older brother John, and later his younger brother, Ronald. His earliest years were spent in the Blue Mountains where his father built first a log cabin and later a wood-frame home for the growing family.

While still a youngster, Bill and the family left Australia from the north by ship with England as their destination to visit Bill's paternal grandfather. They traveled to India, then through the Mediterranean Sea, through the Strait of Gibraltar and across the Channel to England. It was here that Bill started school after a year or so in England. The winds of war began to brew and his father decided the family had better head for home. So they crossed the Atlantic to the United States, traveled down the East Coast, through the Panama Canal, and up the West Coast. War was definitely imminent and so the family settled in Southern California to wait it out. After the war ended they finally crossed the Pacific, arriving safely back home in Australia. This would be the first of many trips back and forth between Australia and southern California for Bill through his teenage years.

At 16 Bill gave up on formal schooling since it had been so disrupted throughout his formative years. At 18 he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving honorably for 22 months in Korea, (1950-1952). In 1952 his mother suffered a massive stroke and doctors did not think she would survive. Bill was plucked from the front lines in Korea and flown home to be at her side with his family. She lived but his father died of a heart attack in 1956.

Bill wanted to see America, especially the places his Korea buddies had talked about, and so he set out hopping freights, visiting every state except the New England area. He was a wanderer, drifting for several years — and fell in love with Montana! Returning to California, he had a brief marriage that ended in divorce after only six months.

It was then he discovered logging, which allowed him to be outdoors in his beloved forest and mountains. He was fortunate to find an excellent mentor in the Klammath Falls area of Oregon, and he logged throughout Northern California, Oregon and Washington up to and including the Mount Baker area for almost 20 years, working mainly as a faller and a bucker.

He also returned to school, earning his GED and studying accounting for a year at the community college in Tacoma, Wash. He earned A’s and B’s — but it was like trying to keep a lion caged!

He met his second wife, Jerolyn Ann Nentl, at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Tacoma working on a volunteer project. They were married July 14, 1979, by Bill Bischel, S.J., beneath the apple tree at what would become their home for 15 years in Tacoma, Wash. Their deepest regret was not being able to have children.

Bill's dream, as was Jerolyn’s was to return to Montana — and they did, in 1994, settling in Lakeside. They became members of St. Ann Catholic Church in Somers, and then Blessed John Paul II Catholic Church in Bigfork.

Bill's life was filled with sickness and sadness. In addition to PTSD, he suffered from shrapnel in his back and concussions. He suffered a stroke in June, 1980. Then, while camping at Lake Cushman in the Olympics, he had chest pains. The volunteer ambulance folks from Shelton revived him with paddles three times from a cardiac arrest. He spent a week at the Shelton Hospital and then was transferred to St. Joseph Hospital in Tacoma where he had six vessel coronary artery bypass graft surgery on their eighth wedding anniversary. In 1996 he suffered a second devastating stroke, hospitalized at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, that left him with weakness and confusion and a phenomenon called "alien hand syndrome" that made it extremely difficult, if not impossible to coordinate his hand movements and accomplish any tasks. He battled with depression but his deep faith in God sustained him, as did his basic happy spirit and sense of humor.

His greatest joy was being outdoors, camping and hiking. He loved mornings! He loved to cook. He loved animals, especially his dogs, with his last dog, Rafiki, dying just four days before him.

People who met Bill often thought him hard and harsh. What they didn't realize was that he was hardest on himself! He was a very kind and gentle man, a deeply nurturing person. He was loyal and honest. His will power and self-discipline was awe inspiring! Once he made up his mind nothing stopped him. After his heart surgery he decided it was time to quit some of his bad habits — and he did, stopping smoking (two packs a day Camels regular for 39 years) and giving up alcohol (even his beloved Foster’s beer). He started his own exercise program, started reading nutrition labels and changed many of his cooking methods.

He was a quick but very good judge of character, and if he was wrong he was the first to admit it and make amends. He was a hard worker, not quitting until the job was done. He was "old fashioned"; his word was as good as gold, with a firm handshake to seal a deal! He volunteered at St. Leo Church and Martin Luther King Ecumenical Center in Tacoma and with the “Lakeside Senior Lunch Bunch” AoA congregate meal program.

In spite of all the sickness and sadness, Bill was basically a happy man. He loved to sing and what he called "happy music" that allowed him to clap along. After the Korea experience, he hated war, its waste of people, land and resources. He wanted peace not just among nations but for each of us inside, within families and among friends, in our churches and schools. He wanted peace inside for himself, and he wrestled with this to his dying days: "Help me, help me" being his mantra, his prayer to Jesus.

Bill was a “rough diamond” — a truly fine one.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents; and his brother, Ronnie.

He is survived by his wife, Jerolyn, of Lakeside; his sister, June, of San Rafael, Calif.; his brother, John, of Southern California and Australia; and six nieces and nephews, all of California.

Mass of Christian Burial for Bill will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, at Blessed John Paul II Catholic Church (north of Bigfork at Coverdell Road) preceded by recitation of the rosary at 9:25 a.m. Following the service there will be a luncheon hosted by the women of the church CCW, downstairs in Brady Hall, in celebration of Bill's life. (There is an elevator.)

No flowers, please! Instead, please plant a tree and watch it grow or a flowering shrub and watch it blossom, pat your dog or adopt/foster one from the animal shelter, visit a senior citizen who is lonely or help them out with a project they need done, or visit regularly those who must live out their last days at a nursing home. Any of these would please Bill very much.

Monetary donations, if you desire, may be made in Bill's memory to the Flathead County Animal Shelter, 225 Cemetery Road, Kalispell, MT 59901; Agency on Aging Nutrition Program, 160 Kelly Road, Kalispell, MT 59901; Food for the Poor, 6401 Lyons Road, P.O. Box 979004, Coconut Creek, FL 33097-9004; or the Religious Education Fund at Blessed John Paul II Church, P.O. Box 277, Bigfork, MT 59911.

Buffalo Hill Funeral Home is caring for Bill's family and friends. You may go www.buffalohillfh.com to extend your condolences.