Leonard Edmund Kuffel

Leonard Edmund Kuffel, 97, of Missoula, passed away on June 28, 2015, at home of natural causes.

He was born on Oct. 15, 1917, in Helena to Daniel and Frances Kuffel. The family moved to Missoula in 1930, where he attended St. Anthony's School, Loyola and Missoula County High School, from which he graduated in 1935. After working for the Northern Pacific Railroad for two years, he matriculated at the University of Montana, graduating with a degree in pre-med in 1940. He attended medical school at Creighton University, where he was a member of the Phi Sigma fraternity and where he met his wife, Marie. They were married in 1943. Leonard graduated in 1944 and served in the U.S. Navy until 1946.

He and Marie then moved to Missoula where he began general practice at the Northern Pacific Hospital. It was there that he was asked to perform his first anesthesia, which he went on to practice as a Navel lieutenant in the Korean Conflict, 1953-1954. He returned to Missoula and, while combining anesthesia and general practice, studied for the boards of the College of the American Association of Anesthesiologists, which he passed in 1962. At that time was one of two board-certified anesthesiologists in the state of Montana.

He was a member of the American Medical Association, Montana Medical Association, American Association of Anesthesiologists and served as a past president of the Biennial Western Conference on Anesthesiology.

Leonard joined the Army Reserves in 1966 as a major. He retired from the Army Reserves in 1977 as a colonel.

Summers were spent on Flathead Lake, fishing, boating, sailing and spending time with friends. An excellent marksman in pistol, rifle and shotgun, he enjoyed reloading arms and hunting birds and big game. He was an avid gun collector.

He was a Knight of Columbus, member of Sierra Club, Loyola High School booster, the VFW, American Legion and the Missoula chapter of the Retired Officers Association.

He retired from medical practice in 1986 to spend winters in Arizona and summers growing cherries on Flathead Lake. He continued to play golf several times a week and began working with silver jewelry.

After Marie died, he moved to the Village Senior Residence in Missoula, where he participated in many activities and made new friends. The weekly poker game and exercise with Katie Knudson were the highlights of his Village life. A gentle intellect, he loved science, history and music in all its aspects, but particularly astronomy and paleontology, early civilizations, classical music and jazz. He delighted in his children and grandchildren.

Leonard was preceded in death by his son, Richard Bruce Kuffel, in 1987, and his wife, Marie Streeter Kuffel, in 2009.

Survivors include his son, Jim of Missoula and daughter, Frances Kuffel, also of Missoula, along with seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Family and friends are warmly invited to celebrate his life.

Leonard never stopped learning, never stopped laughing and never stopped loving.
Read Leonard Kuffel's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.