Maurice Eugene Guay

Maurice Eugene Guay died in his home on Wednesday, March 18, 2015, at age 91, in Missoula.

Our father, was a practical man. For an obituary expressing what we, his four surviving children, truly feel, please refer to the beautiful poem "Funeral Blues" by W.H. Auden, which will be read at a memorial for his honor when his family and friends gather on May 14 for a 7 p.m. vigil and May 15 at 11 a.m. for a funeral mass at St. Anthony in Missoula.

At his instruction – and with his numerous proof-readings – we began writing this practical obituary over six months ago, long before he became demonstrably less healthy. This was about the time he – at 90 years of age – was busily obtaining bids for new windows, roof and siding for our family home of 59 years in Missoula. Dad taught us that, for property to appreciate, it must not only be merely maintained, it must be prudently improved. (He also hated the idea of the government going on a shopping spree with his hard-earned money after he was gone.)

Here – with broken hearts and an empty house in tremendous repair – we offer to you the information Dad felt he should share:

Maurice Guay was born in Butte to Edgar J. Guay and Augustine Fournier on Feb. 1, 1924, in Butte, America. He joined a sister and brother and would later have a little sister. He fondly remembered summers spent at the family 9-Mile Ranch. He attended St. John's Elementary and Boys Central High School. At the latter he played football and was co-captain of the team which took the 1942 Class A Western District Championship. The team was inducted to the Butte, Montana Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.

His father was a Railway Express Agent and co-owner of the Butte Cobban Market (current home of a sporting-goods store) and raised Maurice with a an incredibly strong and practical work ethic. Dad was taught that success came not by what one knew but with whom one associated oneself. Using that philosophy he acquired his first paper route-from the circulation director who lived across the street and would deliver The Butte Daily Post until his sophomore year of high school when he became more seriously involved in sports. He would go on to work for Silver Bow County (the county commissioner lived across the alley); one summer at the county dump and the remaining with the parks department.

In 1943 Maurice enrolled at Montana State University where he was elected freshman class president. He spent school vacations working for American Railway Express. In 1947 he graduated in electrical engineering, this time as student body president. The summers of 1945-46 were spent surveying electrical cooperative power lines for the Montana State Conservation Board. He worked for Morrison & Maierle Consulting Engineers of Helena in their REA department, forming a partnership building electrical distribution lines. He then became a partner in General Engineers Consulting Firm with offices in Whitefish and Missoula, providing engineering design and planning services for architects and industrial clients in Montana and northern Idaho. He would enjoy this enterprise for 43 years.

He was a charter member and president of the Montana Society of Engineers' Western Chapter and charter member and president of the Montana Chapter of American Consulting Engineers Counsel. He would, over a period of eighteen years, be appointed by three governors to the Montana Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.

Maurice was a member of Lions Club International for over 55 years. Our family has been members of Saint Anthony Parish for over 60 years and Dad served on the finance and service committee in addition to being one of the first lay lectors after Vatican II.

Upon his retirement Maurice worked at golf and was a member of the local tennis court club.

Maurice married Patricia Geary of Helmville on Sept. 5, 1954. They had five children Geary (Lori) Guay of Boulder, Colorado, two sons Ryan and Taylor; Odette Senkyr survived by her daughter Brandi and son Dustin; Camille (Jay) Coughlin of Helmville, two sons Jason and Colton; Michelle (Brad) Tanberg of Nampa, Idaho, two daughters Maren and Grete; and Charlotte (Dennis) Iverson of Potomac, two daughters Courtney and Ashley. His children fondly remember many years of snow skiing, springs and summers with whitewater rafts on the Blackfoot River, the Clark Fork River and wilderness trips on rivers throughout the west. Maury's work ethic, kindness and generosity nurtured the willingness to serve others in his five children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Preceded in death by his parents; his siblings, Lucille Guay Peters, Edgar Guay Jr. and Geraldine Guay Campana; his wife of 53 years, Patricia Geary Guay and daughter Odette Guay Senkyr.

He was, indeed, our North, our South ... our heats break in his absence but our only quibble is regarding who must scrape the mildew from the patio awning.

As a widower, Dad rekindled a fond friendship with college classmate Gladys "Hap" Dudik and, to the delight of both our and her families, embarked on new adventures of geo-caching, travel and long afternoons reading (she) and watching sports (he). With full hearts, the family thanks Hap for the consistency and quietude she shared with him.
Read Maurice Guay's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.