David Downey, 87

Dr. David Downey, a kind and generous man, adventurer, traveler, and retired, longtime Kalispell dentist, died peacefully at home Friday, July 27, 2018, from anemia. He was 87.

No funeral is planned, but a celebration of his remarkable life will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, in Kalispell’s Lawrence Park.

He was a loving husband and father, survived by his wife of 63 years, Janet (Hawkins) Downey; a daughter, Gail Steele, of Kalispell, and her children, David and Beth and her husband, Matt Sedlacek; also, four sons and their families, Drs. Dan Downey and Andrea Simonsen and their daughter and son-in-law, Sara and Evan Helle, all of Dillon; Mark Downey and Carol Roberts of Lolo; Paul Downey and Heather Murray and their children, Lucy and Oscar, of Kalispell; and Dr. Rob Downey and Devry Garity, and their children, Griffin and Iris, all of Homer, Alaska. Survivors also include his brother, Terry, and his wife, Norma, of Yakima, Washington; brother-in-law, Bob Hawkins, and wife Mickey, of Missoula; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his sister and her husband, Jean and Eric Anderson, formerly of Spokane.

Many people will remember him as a caring dentist who provided extraordinary care but kept his fees low for those that could ill afford it. He was honored twice by the Montana Dental Association as the state’s best clinician. For years he taught dental study clubs for others wanting to learn advanced crown and bridge work. He traveled to developing countries numerous times to provide volunteer dentistry or to teach it. In 1968, he volunteered for Project Hope, bringing advanced healthcare to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The next year he accepted an invitation to return for one year to teach dentistry at the University of Peradeniya in Kandy. He and Janet took their five children, the youngest a toddler, through Asia on the way there and Europe on the way home. He wanted others to learn of the larger world, so, after returning to Kalispell, he gave slide shows and talks about Ceylon to children in Kalispell schools.

In addition to his long professional career, he had many interests, most of them outdoors.

He was an avid, lifelong skier, starting at Mount Spokane. He was a member of the Washington State University ski racing team, and later a fixture at Big Mountain above Flathead Valley, particularly when there was fresh powder. He and Janet volunteered to teach for the Kalispell Ski Club. Their family’s downhill and cross-country skis (including Head Standards and Miller Softs) once lined the basement ceiling of their home on Kalispell’s eastside.

He and Janet also were mountain climbing enthusiasts. He was listed in the first edition of “A Climber’s Guide to Glacier National Park” as one of two local authorities (along with Hal Kanzler) on routes in the park. They had many friends in the Glacier Park community. He was a patient, careful climbing leader who took many people up their first mountain. He summited the park’s most difficult and highest peaks — Mount St. Nicholas and Mount Cleveland, respectively. In addition, he climbed Mount Rainier with Lou Whittaker (co-founder of REI) and attempted British Columbia’s iconic Mount Robson with legendary Canadian mountaineer, Hans Gmoser.

Naturally, he was a conservationist, too. He introduced many people to camping in his beloved mountains, particularly in Jewel Basin east of Kalispell in the Swan Mountains. He and Janet had a tent made from an orange and white parachute. They began leading hikes for the Montana Wilderness Association in the 1960s. Most summer Sundays found them in the mountains where he said he felt closest to God. Of course, he shared his passion for the mountains with his family. Family photographs record him carrying his youngest children in the mountains in his well-worn pack. He later proposed and succeeded in preserving a spectacular grove of old growth ponderosa pines in the Swan Valley.

He was a pilot, too, and member of the Montana Civil Air Patrol mountain search and rescue team. He and Janet flew their Cessna 175 to north of the Brooks Mountain Range in Alaska, and south to Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.

He cared deeply for people. He was the driving force and organizer in the creation of the City of Kalispell’s Lawrence Park. He said he wanted people of all incomes to enjoy that land.

He served on the Kalispell school board. It was his habit to send letters thanking his children’s favorite teachers. He believed in the power of education. By example, he and Janet taught their children to love to read.

Many people will remember him for his friendliness. He could — and often did — strike up a conversation with almost anyone. Others may remember him bicycling to and from his office beside Buffalo Hill Golf Course, and home for lunch, not infrequently having invited a patient home to share the meal.

He was born David Wilbur Downey in Spokane on June 16, 1931, the second child of Cliff and Evelyn Downey, a Great Northern Railroad engineer and a nurse. They had a small house in the railroad neighborhood of Hillyard.

His father’s family, most of which is Danish Jurgensens, farmed wheat around the small eastern Washington town of Wilbur. He worked summers there in his teens and was known by his lifelong nickname, “Bud.” He remained close to his family and friends there all of his life. It was there that he learned to value hard work. It was there, and in the mountains around Spokane, that he learned to love the outdoors. His father took him hunting there for upland game birds, waterfowl and deer.

He was the first person in his family to attend college. He got his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from the University of Washington in 1955. In 1954, he met the love of his life, Janet Hawkins from Helena. She was a nurse in training at Montana State College. She was an adventurer and skier, too, and the daughter of the prominent physician and philanthropist, Thomas Hawkins.

Dave and Janet married June 12, 1955. They spent their honeymoon camping on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula and in Montana’s Mission Mountains. Fifty years later they celebrated their anniversary with a float trip with family and friends down the Grand Canyon. In his later years, he particularly enjoyed the company of his family and many, many friends. He never tired of the view of the mountains from the deck of their home.

He had a good run and few regrets, he said in his last days, and for that he was grateful.