John Allen Martineau, 84

John Allen Martineau of Kalispell passed away on May 13, 2015, at his home surrounded by his three daughters, after a brief battle with brain cancer.

He was born on March 21, 1931, in Los Angeles to Lucile Reid and Sherman Allen Martineau and had one older brother, William. His father died when he was 2 and he and his brother were raised by their single mother in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City.

John completed high school in Salt Lake City and went on to get a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Utah. He also completed two years of stateside service in the United States Air Force during the Korean War.

In 1960 he met and married Adriana Vryenhoek from Rotterdam, Holland. They had three daughters together and were married for 20 years.

John worked as a contract specialist for the USDA Forest Service for 31 years. He was very dedicated to his work and lived with his family in Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Montana where he finally retired. He was very active in his retirement years, traveling extensively in the U.S. and abroad while pursuing many hobbies. He owned two sailboats and sailed on Whitefish and Flathead lakes. He kayaked, hiked, mountain biked and skied up until his 84th birthday. He had multiple RVs and took up motorcycling in his 70s. During this time he also met his dear friend Dani Dobyns with whom he shared a love of traveling and photography. Their most recent travels were to Alaska, France, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He could always be found with his camera in hand wherever he went and at all family gatherings. He was an active member of a local camera club and attended a book club regularly.

 John was always quick to lend a hand and volunteered for a local conservation group, for the visually impaired at Whitefish Mountain, for many projects for the Buddhist group he belonged to, and for the condo association where he lived.

John was an adventurous soul who loved seeing new places and meeting new people. He had great appreciation for nature and for all people he met and knew. He was articulate, funny and a good friend to all who knew him and will be sorely missed.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and his brother William.

John is survived by his three daughters, Ann Payne and Scott of Sheridan, and grandchildren Jarrett and Leah; Jan Martineau of Helena; and Brigitte Conner and Michael of Missoula and stepgrandchildren; and numerous dear friends from near and far.

Cremation has taken place and at John's request no services are planned.

The family would like to thank all of the kind staff at Frontier Hospice for their wonderful care and support of our dad during his illness. A special “thank you” to Dad’s nurse Lisa C. and to Dr. Eric Kress.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Flathead Food Bank or the Flathead County Animal Shelter.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home is caring for the family.