Robert 'Bob' Lingle Sr.

Robert “Bob” Lingle Sr., 86, went to be with his Lord on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014, at home with his family at his side.

A celebration of life will be held at 10 a.m., at Our Saviors Lutheran Church at 401 7th Street West in Columbia Falls, on Saturday, June 20. Burial of ashes has taken place at Glacier Memorial Gardens in Kalispell.

He was born in Wolf Point, Mont., on June 5, 1928. He attended schools at Elmont, Pasture Creek and Prairie Elk.

He did many different things during his life, which included working cattle in the Bears Paw Mountains, fixing fence and farming. In 1950, he joined the military and served time in Korea. When he returned from the military, he worked construction at Glasgow AFB, at Fort Peck Dam and on the highway through Glasgow.

In 1960 he moved to Columbia Falls, where he worked for the Forest Service, Superior Lumber and Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., from which he retired in 1993.

In 1981, he married Ardith (Spicher) Tompkins in Columbia Falls. He and Ardith liked music, dancing and traveling. In 1993 they became snowbirds, going to Quartzsite, Ariz., until 2007, when they moved to Mesquite, Nev., for the winters. Home was Montana in the summer.

He was a member of the Columbia Falls Saddle Club, Back Country Horsemen, Whitefish Moose, Kalispell Eagles, Kalispell Lions, Rocky Mountain Rollers and the Northwest Montana Accordion Association, where he liked the two campsites at Lonepine for a weekend of friends, music and camping. He was also a member of Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Columbia Falls and Mesquite Lutheran Church in Mesquite.

He was preceded in death by one brother, Alvin, and one grandson, Brandon.

Survivors include his wife, Ardith; five children, Bill Neess and his wife, Trish, of Sidney, Robert Jr. of Arizona, Mike of Columbia Falls, Rhonda Appleton and her husband, Clayton, of Columbia Falls, and Mark and his wife, Rachael, of Chandler, Ariz.; three stepsons, Brian Tompkins and his wife Diane, of Helena, Mike Tompkins and his wife, Kara, of Lakewood, Wash., and Mark Tompkins and his wife, Carmen, of Friday Harbor, Wash; two sisters, Beaulah Monroe of Kalispell and Mary Bates of Wolf Point; and grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and many friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to a charity of your choice.