Berl Elvin Buck, 77

Berl Elvin Buck of Kalispell was born Sept. 5, 1936. He died May 1, 2014. The eldest child of Forrest and Freda (Fladmark) Buck “crossed over to the other side” at Immanuel Nursing Home in Kalispell, with family at his bedside.

Berl was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

He served six years in the National Guard with an honorable discharge.

His passions were camping, hunting, fishing, leather tooling and wood working. Berl worked in a saw mill and was a truck driver in heavy road construction. He was the truck driver for the greensman for the “Heaven’s Gate” movie in 1979. He worked at the bark plant and also did cabinet making.

He met and married his present wife, Nyla Hahn, in 1976.

He was preceded in death by his father, Forrest Berl Buck; mother, Evelyn Freda Fladmark Buck; sister, Marie (Buck) Carda; and foster son, Joseph Howke Schlinger.

He is survived by his wife, Nyla G. Hahn Buck, of Columbia Falls, two sons, Forrest “Frosty” E. and Colleen Buck of Columbia Falls, and Lowell L. and Nancy Buck of Seward, Alaska; four daughters, Annalynn H. Kuper and Tim Handran of Shepherd, Mont., Teresa “Tari” G. and Glenn Bradley of Stayton, Ore., Rebecca H. Resner and Greg Sharp of Thompson Falls, and Dawna J. and Bill Erlewine of Anchorage, Alaska; 22 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, with two more “in the oven”; one brother, Clinton, and Thora Buck, of Sandpoint, Idaho; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life and potluck) will be he held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 10, in the Culture Room at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1780 Talbot Road in Columbia Falls, by the Montana Veterans Home.