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Kermit Lawrence Drake |
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August 4, 1943 ~ April 30, 2015 |
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May 5, 2015 |
Kermit Lawrence Drake passed away on April 30,
2015 at the Boundary Community Hospital in
Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
Kermit was born to Lawrence Laroy and Edith Elby
Drake on August 4, 1943 in Lincoln, Maine.
He was born eight hours after his twin brother,
Kenneth, and fourteen miles from where Ken was
born.
Kermit was the fourth of six children. He grew
up in Howland, Maine on a dairy farm and
continued his education to tenth grade. He quit
school to go to work in the woods until he was
nineteen, at which time he went to work in the
Howland Tannery.
At age twenty-one, Kermit left Maine and
traveled 3100 miles by Greyhound Bus to visit
his aunt and uncle, Don and Betty Philbrook, in
Bonners Ferry, Idaho. It turned out that he
enjoyed the area, and in 1965, he bought his
forty acre farm in Paradise Valley, where he
would raise his family and reside until his
death.
Kermit first found work at the Moyie River
Lumber Company, starting in the random length
(r/l) planing mill on the dry chain and moving
up to hand car loader. From there, he moved on
to the r/l saw mill, operating a board & cant
edger for four years. Then, he went to the log
yard as a heavy equipment operator, running a
Cat 966/980, Bantam hydraulic crane, Cat
hydraulic 235 grapple crane, and whole truck
load wheel log stacker. After the log yard, he
bid into the stud mill as a chip & saw operator.
From the mill in Moyie Springs, he went to work
at Riley Creek in Laclede for another year, and
then left to work at Boundary County Road and
Bridge as a heavy equipment operator where he
ran the rock crusher. In July 1998, Kermit
suffered a stroke and took a disability
retirement. That didn’t stop him from continuing
to fish Idaho, Montana, and Canadian waters with
his many friends and family.
On May 25, 1968, Kermit married the love of his
life, Lois Irene Berger. They had three children
together; Troy (Shelly) in 1969, Lawrence
“Scooter” (Olivia) in 1970, and Dawn Marie in
1972. His seven grandchildren are Cassandra
(Sam) Easley, Melissa (Chase) Mellon, Jamie
(Kristin) Drake, Hailie Drake, Chelsea Rose,
Meghan Rose, and Brooke Rose. His seven
great-grandchildren are Samuel Easley, Matthew
Easley, Nathaniel Mellon, Owen Mellon, Torrie
Rose, Savannah Rose, and Ellee Drake.
He is survived by his wife Lois, three children,
seven grandchildren, six of his
great-grandchildren, sisters Marie Boobar and
Diane (Sheldon) Smith of Maine, and numerous
cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in
death by his mom and dad, sister Charlotte,
brother Blaine and twin brother Kenneth, and his
great-grandson Matthew Donald Easley.
Kermit enjoyed many things in life including
hunting, fishing, camping, riding horses, going
for drives, and just puttering around. He loved
his horses and his dogs; his dogs never missed a
ride on his side-by-side when he went to do
chores. But his greatest joy was family,
especially spoiling his grandkids and
great-grandkids.
At Kermit’s request, there will be no public
service, but we will always remember him for the
great, hard working, and loving man that he was. |
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