John William Safford Jr., 75

John William Safford Jr. passed away Nov. 30, 2015, at the Hidden Meadows Memory Care Home in Columbia Falls, with his loving wife Sarah by his side.

He was born in Missoula Aug. 20, 1940, to John and Ellamae Poston Safford. Throughout his childhood the family lived in Missoula, Butte, Bozeman, and finally Helena.

He graduated from Montana State University with Bachelor of Science degree in 1964, a Master of Science degree in 1966, and a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 1970. After graduation, John joined Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago, Illinois, where he worked for 25 years as a scientist developing several diagnostic tests. He held several patents in his field.

It was at Abbott Laboratories that John met his future wife in the centrifuge room. Sarah always said that he was the nicest man that she had ever met and they married in 1978. They were married for 37 years until his death. While living in Illinois, John and Sarah enjoyed working, partying with friends and family, and riding on the back roads of Wisconsin and Illinois on his motorcycle.

It was hard to leave all their family and friends in Illinois but John and Sarah took early retirement in 1996 and returned to John’s beloved Montana to help take care of his parents. John and Sarah enjoyed everything that Montana had to offer. Living in Montana also meant that he could spend more time with his siblings.

John was an avid hiker with his friend Rocky and enjoyed fly fishing with his friend Ray. With the RV, John was able to enjoy more Montana fishing and camping with Sarah, the dog, and friends. In what became a fun quest, John and his wife spent every wedding anniversary while they lived in Montana staying in a different one of Montana’s grand old hotels. John loved to tie his own flies for fishing and shared them with his friends. Photography was his passion and he spent many, many hours taking pictures and playing with them on his computer. He had a wonderful sense of humor and a way with words. Even when dementia robbed him of many things, he still had a sense of humor.

He will be greatly missed.

John was preceded in death by his parents, John and Ellamae.

John is survived by his wife Sarah. He is also survived by his brother Tom and wife MaryAnn Safford of Oak Harbor, Washington, his sister Sue Stevens of Kalispell, his brother Bob and wife Lori of Kalispell, and many nieces, nephews and great-nieces and -nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Dec. 11 at the Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Heart Locker in Kalispell.