Joseph
W. Krall, 94, long-time farmer and teacher from Conrad/ Sunburst, passed
away January 5, 2009 at the
Pondera Medical Center in Conrad from natural causes.
Visitation is Thursday after 4 pm
with a rosary service set for 6 pm
at the Whitted Funeral Chapel in Shelby . Funeral Mass will
be held at 1:00 pm on Friday,
January 9, 2009 at St
Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Burial with military
honors will follow in the Sunburst Cemetery . Whitted
Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Condolences for
the family may be sent to
www.whittedfuneralchapel.com.
Joe was born February 21, 1914 in Bear Springs , MT , the 8th child in a family of 11 to Joseph F and Mary (Kolar) Krall where the family homesteaded. He graduated from grade school and high school in Lewistown. He attended Montana State University on a football scholarship graduating with a degree in Vocational Agriculture in 1939.
While attending collage he met the love of his life, Harriet McArdle of Butte , MT. They married August 24, 1939. Harriet his wife of 69 years survives him as well as his daughters, Harriet Karst of Sunburst and Cora (Ron) Copenhaver of Menifee, CA; granddaughters, Teresa Karst of Kalispell, Leza (Rob) Curtis of Alta Loma, CA and Natalie (Jeff Beasley) Karst of W Sacramento, CA; and one great-grandson, Robert Curtis. Joe is also survived by sisters, Emily Schelly, Barbara Weir, and Louise Coan; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
He is preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Tom, Charles, and James; sisters, Elizabeth, Nettie, Rose and Agnes; and his son-in-law, Bill Karst.
He loved hunting, fishing, camping, bird watching and being outdoors. He and his wife took several trips in their RV including Alaska . Most of all he loved sharing these pursuits, patiently untangling his children’s fishing lines from the bushes. He helped local boys by taking them on trips to the Bob Marshall Wilderness and teaching them his trapping skills. He was especially proud of having participated in programs from Montana State University in which he helped study the wolves in Yellowstone as well as other studies of wildlife and dinosaur digs.
He served with the US Army as 1st Lieutenant stationed in Hawaii shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor . He became involved with the American Legion and served as Commander of the Sweet Grass Post #73 and in 1982 he served as State Commander.
Joe taught Voc-Ag in various schools in Montana back before WW II and after. He came to the Sunburst area to teach a Veteran of War continuing education program. But farming was in his blood and he bought a farm east of Sunburst in 1959. He retired in 1975, living in Sunburst, then moving to Conrad in 1997.
Joe will be remembered as having a great sense of humor and his favorite trick of weaving a tale which the listener would believe until with a twinkle in his eye they knew they had been had. His family, friends and caregivers will miss his stories, poems, and sharing his knowledge of nature.