Elmer Elzig, 94

Elmer Elzig’s hands shook, but they felt as strong as ever when he squeezed his family’s palms in the ICU at Logan Health in Kalispell on Jan. 10. Elmer was proud of his iron-tight grip — one he needed for his lifelong work as a mechanic.

Two days later, on Jan. 12, 2022, Elmer let go. He was 94 years old.

Elmer was born prematurely on Aug. 2, 1927, and he said he always thought that helped make him tough. His parents, Gerald and Helen (Gardner) Elzig, placed Elmer in their stove — a makeshift incubator — to help keep him alive in the first month of his life. Out of the fire, Elmer grew and used his hands to build a life that meant more to his family and friends than the wrenches he turned.

His hands helped craft the stories he loved to tell later in life, ones that live on with his family and friends.

Stories like the time he snuck onto Okinawa Island late in World War II as a 17-year-old Merchant Marine fresh from his hometown of Margie, Minnesota. Despite the serious nature, he’d chuckle as he’d point to the scar on his forehead that he received from a Japanese sniper bullet. “An inch closer and none of you’d be here,” he’d say, before recounting how he was able to hide behind a bulldozer blade that was then used to topple the shack where the shooting came from.

He displayed the stern and somewhat intimidating demeanor of a Marine in his younger years, often judging a person by their work ethic, valuing a good one. That softened over time though, as he’d display his childlike – and sometimes dark – sense of humor.

His nurturing nature showed more as he reached retirement age, too. Instead of running to the woods on the weekend with his buddies, he was more apt to take one of his grandchildren. He would often watch his youngest grandson play outside for hours on electric four-wheelers and wagons Elmer would fix. He was always up for a game of cribbage, which is his family’s go-to card game.

He had plenty of hunting and fishing stories from his younger years, too. They were more abundant than the meat from the trip where he and his friends put over 2,000 pounds of moose and caribou in the locker while venturing to the Alaskan bush in a cat track that he built.

In fact, it was his love of the wild that led Elmer from Minnesota to the Marines, then to Kalispell — where he met his wife, Ruth (Smith) Elzig, and bought his first home. He was ultimately drawn to the Last Frontier, though. Elmer said he went for a week job as a tractor mechanic to Alaska and didn’t leave for more than 40 years before he eventually returned to Kalispell later in life.

He homesteaded a cabin on Nancy Lake in Alaska so he could ice fish and have a place to snowmachine and ride his three-wheeler. He helped build two cabins next door to each other in Seldovia, Alaska, for himself and his cousin Bob Elzig, so they’d be closer to the halibut. The door to Elmer’s cabin was rarely locked, and he left a guestbook inside for uninvited guests to sign.

But Elmer’s family home in Anchorage was his basecamp. From there, he worked as a service manager for Terex Engine and then as the state superintendent mechanic for Alaska’s Department of Transportation, where he retired at age 69.

When he wasn’t gone for work or out in the woods, he’d spend countless hours in the shop. His longtime friend George Colby and he built an airboat in the 1960s that the two piloted up the North Fork of the Flathead River. He built a 1956 Corvette from the ground up. He had countless projects, but he’d always work on his friends’ vehicles free of charge. He always woke up early, ate a bowl of oatmeal, rarely drank, and when it came to helping family and friends, there was nothing too difficult and there was always time.

He said his wife of 50 years gave him, “All sorts of hell,” for how much he was away. Still, Elmer said that Ruth always had a warm meal waiting for him when he returned. He cried when she passed away on Oct. 10, 2001.

Along with his wife, Elmer was preceded in death by his six younger siblings, Lester, Bob, Loretta, Jerry, Marshall and Franklin, as well as Elmer’s daughter, Janis, and son, Richard.

Elmer is survived by his children, Byron and Cheryl; his daughter-in-law, Rosali; his grandchildren, Kyle (Houghtaling), Hillary, Bryce, Marley (Miller) and Parker (Miller); and his great-granddaughter, Delilah (Houghtaling).

A military service and remembrance will be held later this year.