Former fire marshal dies at 81

Eugene “Gene” Thompson, who served as the Kalispell fire marshal during a string of downtown fires during the 1970s that caused millions of dollars in damage and was a recent state president of the Montana Landlords Association, died Sunday at age 81.

“He worked hard and his body was worn out,” his daughter Linda Smith said. “He went peacefully in his sleep in the early-morning hours of Sunday surrounded by his family.”

Thompson was still actively managing 16 rental properties in the Flathead Valley at age 80, and often found himself traveling the state as part of his duties with the landlords association. 

He was a longtime leader in the firefighting community, both locally and throughout the state, after starting with the fire department in Kalispell at age 25. He was off the crew for a while after securing his first job, when the city was forced to cut a position, but he stayed busy with two grocery store jobs and then in 1962 resumed his position on the Kalispell Fire Department.

He ended up retiring as a captain in 1983 after 27 years of service, and he investigated fires and fire-related deaths within a 100-mile radius of the Flathead Valley as deputy state fire marshal for 10 years before leaving that post in 1973. 

He also had built his family a home, took on remodeling projects, and acquired houses, remodeled and rented them while holding down his firefighting position.  

After retiring, he married his second wife, Marlene, and became active in the community with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Posse, the Roundup for Safety committee, Evergreen Lions Club and the Elks Lodge.

“Firefighting and remodeling houses — it’s hard on you,” he told a Daily Inter Lake reporter in a 2011 feature on his life. 

Thompson is survived by his wife, Marlene, daughter Linda Thompson-Smith and sons Kent and Scott Thompson. Funeral services for Thompson are pending.