|
Roger Lee Guthrie |
| August 29, 1930 ~
February 20, 2012 |
|
February 25, 2012 |
 Roger
Lee Guthrie, 81, passed away unexpectedly on
February 20, 2012, at Kootenai Medical Center in
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. He was surrounded by his
family as he slipped through the gates of Heaven
to join those loved-ones who had gone before
him. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m.
Saturday, March 3, at St. Ann’s Catholic Church
in Bonners Ferry. A reception in the church
basement will follow the service. Graveside
services will be held later this spring.
Roger was born August 29, 1930, to Josephine and
Chauncey Guthrie at their home in Copeland,
Idaho. The sixth of seven children, Roger spent
his early years on the family farm, where he
developed his love for nature and the outdoors
while hunting and fishing in the hills and
streams around Copeland.
Roger was a self-taught musician who learned to
play by picking up the guitar his brother Bob
had forbade him to touch while Bob was away in
the service. Roger had the rare gift of being
able to play entirely by ear, never having
learned to read a note of music. God blessed him
with a melodic voice that enchanted all who
heard him sing. He and his brothers were well
known musicians who entertained in the area for
many years. There was little that brought him
greater joy than picking up the guitar or
mandolin and making beautiful music with his
family.
Roger was an outstanding athlete and was even
described as a “future Hall of Fame pitcher” in
an edition of the Bonners Ferry Herald. He was
recruited as a Minor League pitcher for the
Spokane Indians, which was a farm team for the
Dodgers at the time, and he played ball for the
final portion of that season. Instead of
returning to the Indians the next year, he
decided to seek his fortune in Alaska, where he
ultimately played ball for the Midnight Sun
League.
Roger served in the Army during the Korean War,
and returned to Bonners Ferry following the
conflict to begin work for the Great Northern
Railroad, where he worked in the Signal
Department. Roger worked as a Signal Crew
Foreman for the bulk of his career that spanned
more than 45 years with the Great Northern and
Burlington Northern Railroads.
While working for the railroad in June of 1964,
Roger was hailed for his courageous, life-saving
rescue of a Great Northern Lineman who was swept
away in the flood-ravaged waters of the swift
moving Clark Fork River near Columbia Falls,
Montana. A news report from the time says Roger
“jumped over the embankment, becoming
momentarily entangled in the fallen wires, and
leaped down the 70-degree slope, rolling,
scrambling, and clawing his way to the bottom.
He plunged into the water and grabbed Brady’s
inert body, floating face down, just as it was
being pulled into the 15 mile-per-hour current.”
He was later honored for his courage and was
presented with shares in the railroad at an
event held in Spokane.
In 1954 he met Carol Bartlett, the woman who
would become the love of his life, at a dance he
was performing for at the Moyie Club. They were
married in December of 1956. That union brought
them four children, Renee, Gary, Steve and Kim,
who grew up together at their family home on the
North Side of Bonners Ferry.
Roger was a loving husband and father and his
family meant more to him than anything else in
the world. He was a man with an outstanding
sense of humor who always insured that his home
was brimming with laughter. He was mischievous
and silly and enjoyed being on the receiving end
of a joke as much as being the source of the
hilarity. All who met him were immediately taken
in by his genuine good nature and sense of mirth
that he exuded so effortlessly.
Roger loved being outdoors and spent countless
hours fishing with his wife and children and his
nephew, Terry, in the many lakes and streams
throughout Boundary County. His time around the
home was spent tending his immaculate vegetable
and flower gardens and he kept his home as a
neighborhood showpiece, surrounded by vibrant
roses and the singing from the choirs of birds
that would flock to the many feeders scattered
throughout his yard.
Roger was a natural storyteller and would
frequently enthrall his friends and family with
tales that would often grow taller with each
retelling. He spent several years as a columnist
for the Kootenai Valley Times, writing his “For
the Birds” column, which served to educate and
inform his readers who loved the hobby of
feeding and care for wild birds. He also wrote a
column called “Yesteryear” which served as the
perfect platform for his nostalgic sojourns to
the early days in the history of Boundary
County. He was a prolific source of historical
reference to the community and was active as a
member of the Historical Society at the Boundary
County Museum.
Roger spent his final years living in Coeur
d’Alene where he spent many hours on his boat,
enjoying the natural beauty of the lake, and
also made time for vacationing on the Oregon
coast or taking in the excitement and lights of
the Las Vegas strip.
Roger was preceded in death by his parents,
Chauncey Sr. and Josephine Guthrie; sisters
Virginia and Marie; brothers John, Robert, and
Fred; son-in-law Jeff; nieces Marie and Jenny
and nephew Russell. He is survived by wife
Carol; daughter Renee (Kelly) Albano; son Gary
Guthrie; son Steve (Edie) Guthrie, daughter Kim
McCoy; eight grandchildren and nine
great-grandchildren.
|
|
|
|
|
