Louis William 'Bill' Schlegel, 84

Louis William “Bill” Schlegel, 84 was born Nov. 10, 1929, in Dillon, the second child of Louis and Gladys (Bump) Schlegel.  

He attended schools in Kalispell and Kila, but only until grade six, when his formal education ended and he began a long career as a working man. His was truly a hard-knock life.

He passed away quietly at his home Feb. 13, 2014.  

His childhood and young adult life were full of adventures that sounded like the stuff movies are made of, and he regaled his kids and grandkids time and again with tales from those times. Only last week at dinner, we said to him again how we needed to record his stories because they were so priceless. Sadly, it did not get done.  

When he was 20, he married the only woman he ever loved, Carol (Kahn) Schlegel, and they were marred 56 years until Carol preceded him in death. They too had adventures, worked together, had five children and faced down Carol's cancer as a team.

Besides his family, Bill's biggest accomplishments were his work history and the business he built from nothing. When he was 16, he worked alone in the Blacktail Lookout; when 17, he ran cross cut saw with his dad west of Kalispell. He worked on the Hungry Horse Dam project, clearing timber; and worked road and logging jobs from Seeley Lake to Superior. In the 1960s, he worked for Fred King, including construction of the south portal of the railroad tunnel near Trego; and worked many other heavy highway construction projects.

In the mid-seventies he took a leap and began his own business, building roads from the Libby and Eureka areas to the Flathead Forest. For many years he built logging road for Stoltze Land and Lumber.  Wherever you went with him, he could point out some project he had worked on, and even recount details of who he worked with and how well they did their jobs.  

Although Bill officially retired, he never was able to become a completely hands-off business man. Work was in his blood and little could distract him from it. When Carol became ill, though, she became his job and he took it very seriously, too seriously sometimes according to her! But when he wasn't otherwise occupied, he loved working on and showing off his old car collection, personally having restored a Diamond T truck and a 1928 Durant. These were like his babies, and if you wanted to score points with him, you just needed to express admiration for them.  

Carol's illness accomplished some things in Bill that nothing in his life had ever done, tenderizing his heart and beginning a late-in-life makeover that few thought they would see. He became humbler, more expressive, more willing to love and be loved. He started sometimes attending church and the Dirt Bags Bible Study in Bigfork, making friends and considering things he had never previously thought of, and God did a work in his life. Those of us who were close to him and were witness to the process were surprised and delighted. The past couple of years in particular saw a man far different from his former self. We were grateful to be present to observe the transformation up close.  

Bill was preceded in death by his sweet bride, Carol; his son, Leslie; his mother and father; his brothers, Bob and Bennie; and his sister, Bonnie.  

He is survived by his children, Ron and Vickie, Sandy Manning and Jeff, Mike, Mark, and Les' wife, Mary. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Karen, Wayne, Jerry, Shannah, Priscilla, Alex, Hannah, Karsen, Jessa, Kaylyn, Kylie, Kaden and Kahn; 12 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.  

Services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18 at Crossroads Church in Bigfork, Jim Holman officiating.  

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that memorials be made to Bigfork Fire or A Ray of Hope.