Richard E. McKnight, 86

Richard E. McKnight, 86, of Kalispell, “met his Lord” Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, surrounded by his family.

“Dick” McKnight was born on Nov. 28, 1928, in Kalispell in a house on the northeast side of town to parents Perly Ray Sr. and Alma (Buck) McKnight.  Dick attended elementary school at Edgerton and Central school for seventh and eighth grade, after which time he quit school and entered the workforce to help his family.

Dick was a self-taught man, well versed in local and national issues. Dick’s working career included numerous jobs in Montana and Arkansas as a heavy equipment operator, eventually being hired by Plum Creek Royal Logging where he worked for 37 years as a truck driver, logging over two million accident-free miles until his retirement in 1991.

Dick met and married the love of his life, Bobbie Jean Orr, on July 1, 1949.

Bobbie preceded him in death on March 23, 1991. Dick was also preceded in death by his parents and two sisters.

He is survived by brothers, Perly Ray McKnight Jr., and Gerald and Marianne McKnight; children, Phillip McKnight of Missoula, Mike and Brenda McKnight of Georgia, and Deanna and Bob Sunde of Bigfork; four grandchildren, Michael and Kim, and Eric and Mandy McKnight in Georgia, Shauna Lin Sunde, and Richard and Wendy Sunde of Kalispell; 12 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

There will be a graveside service at 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 28, at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery, followed by a celebration of life at South Kalispell Volunteer Fire Department on Willow Glenn Drive.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the McKnight family.