Kenneth V. Nyquist

Ken was born on the Nyquist farm 7 1/2 miles east of Froid, MT on March 27, 1925, the son of Victor and Alice (Lundeen) Nyquist with assistance from Mrs. Florence (Rudolph) Hanson, who was the midwife. He was raised and educated in rural Froid, later graduating from Froid High School. As a young man he worked on his dad's farm. In 1944, Ken entered the U.S. Army and served with the 94th Infantry Division and also with the 1st Cavalry Infantry Division and the 5th Airborne Battalion. After his honorable discharge in 1946, Ken returned to the family farm.

On January 18, 1947, Ken was united in marriage to Kathleen Nacey in Culbertson, MT. The couple lived at the family farm where he planted, raised and harvested various grains, including wheat, oats, barley and hay. He cared for his livestock and did a considerable amount of milking by hand. He drove truck and tractors and was always doing maintenance work on the vehicles and repair of other farm machinery. He kept excellent farm records over the years. In the 1960's, Ken served as Roosevelt County Commissioner for two terms and took pride in his accomplishments, one of which was having the main street in Froid paved.

As a devoted father of four, Ken tried to instill in his children the value of saving money and the importance of planning for the future. His "penny saved / penny earned" mindset certainly worked for him as over the years he became quite well-skilled at the art of investing.

After retiring from farming, Ken and Kathleen bought a house in Bozeman where they lived for 20 years. When Kathleen's health started to decline, they moved to Seattle, WA, to be closer to their daughter Mary Alyce and son John. After living in Seattle for 4 years, they both returned to northeast Montana and were residents of the Roosevelt Memorial Nursing Home. In 2012 they moved to Riverside Health Care in Missoula where they received excellent care and were assisted by Hospice of Missoula in their final days.

Ken's boisterous personality remained with him until the very end. During his life, he excelled at anything he put his mind to; from farming to the stock market to County Commissioner, he truly was a man of the people. He secretly loved to sing on the tractor as he handled his daily responsibilities. He loved more than anything to hear and tell jokes and stories of his adventures and will always be remembered for his infectious laugh.

Ken was a life member of the Knights of Columbus, a member of the Elk's for over 50 years and a proud life-long member of the VFW.

Ken was preceded in death by his wife Kathleen, his parents, brother Laurence and sister Harriet Nelson.

He is survived by three sons, Thomas (Virginia) Nyquist of Bozeman, MT, John Nyquist of Seattle, WA and Paul (Mary)Patera of Bismarck, ND, two daughters, Margaret Moore Of Detroit and Mary Alyce Nyquist of Edmonds, WA, 11 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren and one sister Doris Schmitz of Plentywood, MT.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday, August 20 at 10 am at Garden City Funeral Home in Missoula.
A graveside service with Military Honors will be held in Froid, MT next spring.

Read Kenneth Nyquist's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.