RH Goose Fleming, 66
Goose Fleming passed away at home with his wife by his side after fighting his short battle with glioblastoma brain cancer on Feb. 4, 2022.
Goose was born in Kalispell on Feb. 23, 1955, to Judith Tyrone. Judy met Goose’s dad, John Fleming, when Goose was only 2 years old. John adopted Goose when Goose was in his 20s, but he was always his dad from the very beginning.
Goose loved everything outdoors, from hunting, fishing, camping and horseback riding. He also loved running heavy equipment. He worked for over 41 years building highways and interstates to logging roads and housing pads, in six Western states from Montana to Washington to California. While traveling to Spokane for his treatments, he would see the big equipment running on the projects we encountered, and say “I ran that!" or "Oh, I want to run that one there!" He also rode bulls for 10 years too in his younger days. He loved watching bull riding, whether it was live or on TV.
He was proud to be a Shriner, a Mason and a Bald Eagle member. He was always the first one to volunteer for raffles to help the charities out. Most of the time he was the top seller of raffle tickets because he certainly had the gift of gab.
Goose met the love of his life, Patti, in 2010. She was talking with a few
other women when he said, "If you ladies would quit clacking your jaws, I would like to get to know this woman!” And that is how their story began.
Goose was preceded in death by his parents, John and Judy, his grandparents, and a baby sister.
He is survived by his wife Patti, sister Kim Fleming and husband Don Barta, son Donald and wife Tina Johnson, daughter Amber Tyrone, grandchildren Anna and Joe Cuthbertson, Ashley Johnson and Mikey Conneely, Louis and Summer Johnson, and Callen Johnston, one great-grandchild, with another one on the way, due in May of 2022. He is also survived by his three best friends, Fred Marston of Spokane, and Jimmy Youso and Eddie Fish, both of Kalispell.
He will be missed by his four-legged kids, especially his goat, Princess Clementine. He just loved her and she always made him laugh!
There will be a celebration of life at the Elks Lodge on March 26 at 2 p.m.