Glen Harlow Aasheim, 74

Glen Harlow Aasheim, M.D. (retired), died Sept. 14, 2015, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, of complications associated with CNS vasculitis.

In the summer of 1941, Magnus and Velma Aasheim welcomed Glen, their second son, into the family. A transition back to northeastern Montana soon followed, along with an opportunity for Mags and Velma to settle into the management and operation of her parents’ farm in Antelope, which would serve as the backdrop for the rest of Glen’s boyhood. It offered a quintessentially bucolic lifestyle, yet it also required that he contribute to the endeavors of the family’s ranch — learning to drive tractor, cutting and stacking hay, picking rocks from the field and enlisting in the never-ending battle to eradicate leafy spurge.

His love for the outdoors was rooted in this upbringing, but home and community also instilled in him a deep, profound and what would prove to be lifelong appreciation for the arts. Velma was a gifted piano teacher, providing instruction to both Glen and his brother Gary in their early years. Glen not only took up a second instrument, the clarinet, he enthusiastically pursued opportunities to exercise his voice in song, joining both the Luther League choir as well as a barber shop quartet, formed with a few friends from high school. That quartet’s many joyful performances included trips to several talent contests and even resulted in an appearance on the local TV station.

All of the work and the abundance of play did not distract from other important areas of civic and academic focus: In Boy Scouts, Glen distinguished himself not only with the rank of Eagle Scout, but also went on to earn the Lutheran religious scouting award, Pro Deo et Patria. Rigorous attention to his studies resulted in graduation from high school as valedictorian of his class in 1959.

With the post-graduate goal of medical school in mind, Glen headed off to college in Missoula. There, he participated actively in student organizations, fraternity life as a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and continued to sing and even performed in school musical productions, such as “Oklahoma!” He earned his degree in zoology from Montana State University, but he also managed to win the heart of his future wife, Linda “Kemmie” Kammerzell. They wed in June of 1964, packing up and moving that same year to Grand Forks, North Dakota, for medical school. Coincident to the end of studies in North Dakota, the couple celebrated the birth of their first son, David. Two more years at University of Washington in Seattle completed his medical studies.

The draft loomed and Glen enlisted in the Army, completing an internship and residency in OB-Gyn at Fort Lewis, where their second son, Daniel, was born. More military moves followed, but just prior to his getting out of the Army, while stationed at Fort Ord in Monterey, California, they welcomed their third son, Jesse. Glen and Kemmie returned to Washington state to raise their family in Tacoma.

He spent 28 years practicing medicine, most of it in private practice across the street from Tacoma General Hospital. He recognized that it was his great fortune to deliver so many beautiful babies into the world. Life in the great Pacific Northwest afforded many opportunities for recreation and Glen enthusiastically pursued a variety of these entertainments with his family — sailing, clam-digging, skiing, hiking, windsurfing, biking, roller-blading, golf and scuba diving. He encouraged his sons to participate in all of these activities, while cheering and sponsoring their individual pursuits of sports and music. Glen eventually found his way back to the choir, singing regularly at Mount Cross Lutheran Church.

Most every summer included a road-trip pilgrimage back to Big Sky Country, but in 2002, with all the boys graduated and the Tacoma nest emptied, that trip was another transition: retirement to Lakeside. They built a new home on property Kemmie’s parents bought in 1975 and enjoyed the generous hosting of friends and family there for several years before Kemmie passed away in the fall of 2008 from pancreatic cancer.

Retiring is not a word one uses to describe Glen. Neither is it an accurate description of life after he returned to Montana. He was a warm, gregarious, interested, curious and active man, who availed himself of the time and opportunity to engage fully with so many of his favorite people and activities — hiking, camping, skiing, biking, sailing and kayaking; supporting local charities and tutoring at local schools; contributing to the community through service, as chairman on the Board of Health, and as board director for Immanuel Lutheran Communities; and performing as a tenor in the Glacier Chorale. With so much that he loved to do, across so many seasons of the year, he was loathe to leave the lake and its surrounding mountains. The bulk of his travel was motivated purely by love and desire to visit with his children and grandchildren.

In 2013, Glen was married a second time. In Kathie, a pastor at Immanuel Lutheran in Kalispell and concessions partner of Belton Chalets in Glacier National Park, Glen found a loving companion who shared his affinity for the outdoors, community and civic involvement, and the fellowship of the Church.

Glen is survived by his second wife, Kathie Aasheim, of Lakeside; his sons, David and Mary Sue of Dallas, Texas, Daniel and Danette of Marin County, California, and Jesse and Brigid of Silver Spring, Maryland; his stepchildren, Lars Phillips of Missoula, Kaitlin Phillips of New York, and Hannah Phillips of Bozeman; his brother, Gary Aasheim, and Peggy, of Billings; grandchildren, Carly and Olivia, Benjamin, Lucille and Joseph; as well as many other loving nieces, nephews and extended family members.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Magnus and Velma Aasheim; and first wife, Linda “Kemmie” Aasheim.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Oct. 3 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 603 S. Main St., Kalispell.

Memorial donations may be given to Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Immanuel Lutheran Communities or any charity of the donor’s choice.