Marvin D. "Dufe" Wilson

Marvin "Dufe" Wilson passed away suddenly Sunday evening, May 17, 2015, at his home in his favorite chair. He was 86.

Born Marvin DeWane Syverson to Edward and Belinda Syverson in Wolf Point on April 11, 1929, he was later adopted by Bruce and Nona Wilson.

He enjoyed an adventurous and rough-and-tumble childhood in Wolf Point, Coram and Alberton.

At about 16 or 17, he left Alberton with his family and traveled the western United States for a year, living in campgrounds. His dad blew glass pens and paper weights, selling enough to move on to the next camp spot, always looking for a place to settle. Finally, returning full circle to Montana, they resettled in St. Regis.

After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, joined the submariners, and served four years on the USS Bergall (SS320), stationed out of New London, Connecticut. He was honorably discharged in 1952.

He married Gloria Wikoff on April 22, 1955, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The newlyweds commenced a cross-country driving tour to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon.

Dufe and Gloria made their home in Missoula, where they raised two kids, Kim and Kurt.

He first worked as a heavy equipment operator, loading logs in the forests around western Montana and on an excavator digging miles of sewer lines throughout the city of Missoula.

At the beginning of the computer age, he left the family for a brief period to study in Kansas City, Kansas, learning computer operations. Returning to Missoula, he was hired at the University of Montana in the fledgling computer department in the basement of Main Hall and worked there until his retirement in the early 1990s. While he missed the outdoor work, he enjoyed the campus atmosphere and a wide and diverse circle of friends.

Throughout his adult life, he enjoyed having a beer or two with his brother, Vic, and friends at Red's Bar and always had a seat on "Dead Peckers' Row." He loved to play pitch and wasn't beyond staying out into the wee hours once in a while if the game at the Oxford got exciting.

Dufe also enjoyed raising his kids, bowling, camping, fishing, card games, cribbage, the crossword puzzle, smoking cigars and taking long road trips with Gloria around the western United States.

After retirement, he particularly loved to go with Gloria and the grandkids to Flathead Lake, Canyon Ferry and Lake Koocanusa where the kids learned to bait hooks, drive the boat and play cribbage in the evenings. He and Gloria traveled to Belize, Hawaii, spent two winters in Costa Rica with their daughter, drove their camper to Alaska twice and attended a couple of reunions with his submarine mates from the Bergall.

He and Gloria celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2005 with their kids and grandkids in Las Vegas.

He is survived by his daughter, Kim Olson, and his son, Kurt Wilson and his wife, Karen, all in Missoula. He has four grandchildren, Melissa Leithold (Dennis) of Portland, Oregon, Sadie Thurman (Geoff) of Yorktown, Virginia, Jimmy Adair of Stevensville and Holli Wilson of Olney. He has four great-grandchildren. Also surviving are his brother, Palmer Severson of Peyton, Colorado, and his family. He was preceded in death by his wife, Gloria, and his brother, Victor Wilson.

Marvin and Gloria will be interred at the Western Montana State Veterans Cemetery in Missoula during a graveside service on June 16 at 10:30 a.m.

In the last months of Dufe's life, after visiting we would tell him, "See you later," and he would always respond, "I'll probably be here." Now he's not and we miss him deeply. We wish him happiness in the reunion with his beloved Gloria, good travels, and an occasional card game worth keeping him up all night.
Read Marvin Wilson's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.