Randy Bekkedahl, 60

Randy Bekkedahl passed away on May 10, 2018, just 60 years young. Randy fought a decades-long battle with multiple immunologic disorders. During the last three years of his life, he and his wife, Rebecca, found solace and inspiration living at their mountain lakeside cabin.

Randy is lovingly remembered by his wife of 34 years, Rebecca (Lawrence) and by his siblings: Pam (and Ben) Seiders of Fruitland, Idaho and their children, Joseph and Jennifer; Linda (and Jacob) Magot of Salt Lake City; and Larry (and Denise) Bekkedahl of Portland, Oregon and their children, Kelly, Brianna and Brooke.

Randy was born to Joseph and Frances (Holmquist) Bekkedahl. His family moved back to the Flathead Valley in 1967 and built their home on family property near Ashley Creek. Randy graduated from Flathead High School in 1975 and attended Northwest Nazarene College and the University of Montana before enrolling in the Culinary Program at the Missoula VoTech Institute. It was there that he met the love of his life, Rebecca. Their shared careers in the culinary industry began at the Kootenai Lodge. The couple moved to Kalispell in 1983 and opened a cafe in remembrance of Randy’s father, lovingly naming it “Joe’s Legacy.” Randy’s mother, Fran, was the backbone of the operation and took great pleasure in working alongside them.

In 1986, Randy and Rebecca took a trip to San Diego, fell in love with the sunshine, and decided to stay. Unfortunately, during this time, Randy also suffered an injury that triggered the first signs of his autoimmune disease. It soon became evident that he would no longer be able to work. Thus the couple became the original house “flip or flop” team, using their talent for home improvement to gradually increase the quality and size of one home after another.

In 1991 Randy and Rebecca moved to Portland. Randy was renowned for his intelligence and creativity, so he used the restrictions imposed by his health as an opportunity to pursue self-employment as a realtor. Rebecca worked in management for several prominent Portland restaurants, including Jake’s Famous Crawfish, McCormick & Schmick’s, and Henry’s Twelfth Street Tavern. During the course of their time in Portland, the couple beautifully renovated three homes.

In 2003, they seized the opportunity to return to the Flathead Valley in order to be close to their parents. Randy turned his focus toward supporting family, maintaining their rental property, and managing the increasing demands of his declining health. Randy’s love of family made him the hub around which friends and relatives radiated. He loved to cook and host gatherings — which invariably included a final card game.

Randy had a lifelong love of learning and was a voracious reader. He was a gifted writer and collaborated in several writers’ groups in the valley, including volunteering for the Yellow Bay Writers’ Conference. Randy’s fiction has been published in the Whitefish Review.

As a final act of love, and despite his own limited mobility, Randy dedicated himself to the daily care of his mother during the last years of her life. He was preceded in death by his father in 1983 and his mother in 2015.

His intelligence and curiosity never faded, and he will be remembered as a living history book — able to recap, in detail, the myriad events of both family history as well as the history of the world. Randy loved sitting in his chair curled up with Tolstoy overlooking the lake and being at peace in ways so many only dream about but he lived it every day. You could see him by the light of his computer as he formed words into sentences that took readers on a journey with him.

Randy will be remembered for his kindness, his warmth, his intelligence, and his insight. He was a compass pointing true north.

A celebration of life will be held on Friday, July 13, at the First Presbyterian Church of Kalispell.