Joseph Frank Brashear, 88

Joseph Frank Brashear, 88, walked tall, strong, and proud through the gates of heaven early on the morning of April 19, 2006. He was greeted there by his parents and his stepfather, John Olson, and many good friends who preceded him in death.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 22, in the Clark Fork United Methodist Church. Pastor Mark Wendle will officiate. Interment, with military honors, will be in the Clark Fork Cemetery.

He was brought into this world on Nov. 4, 1917, in Spokane, Wash., by his parents William and Margaret Brashear. At a very early age, Joe developed a love for the outdoors, the streams and lakes, and the mountains. When only 9 years old, he worked with his father helping to build the Blue Creek Road. He also spent time helping his father in the woods while staying in Indian camps in Derr's Canyon.

His love for the outdoors extended from fishing, hunting, prospecting, huckleberry picking, and hiking to his love for gardening and sitting on his deck looking at the surrounding mountains, or watching the backyard birds feeding and the squirrels chasing one another. There are probably no mountains in the Clark Fork Valley that Joe did not hike in his active years.

Joe attended school in Clark Fork until his junior year when he attended Beverly Hills, (Calif.) High School. He returned to Clark Fork to graduate in 1937. He went on to the University of Idaho where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta.

In 1939, Joe enlisted in the National Guard. When World War II began, the National Guard became part of the regular Army and Joe was promoted to first lieutenant. He was commander of the tanks in the Marshall Islands. After he was honorably discharged, he re-enlisted and was promoted to master sergeant, becoming sergeant major of the Port of Adak from 1945 until 1948.

After leaving the Army, he joined the Army Reserves until his discharge in 1953. During his military days, he was stationed in Washington, California, Kentucky, Mississippi, Maryland, Alaska, and Hawaii.

On August 30, 1941, Joe was united in marriage to Phyllis Hazelroth in Sandpoint, Idaho. Family was very important to Joe. It was because of this that he left the service in 1948 to return to Clark Fork to help his ill father and take over his father's business driving a passenger bus between Clark Fork and Sandpoint. As the country prospered after World War II, more and more families became owners of their own transportation and more people began building. Joe gave up the bus line to begin a freight truck line. His family was growing, so he also took a job working nights on the construction of the Cabinet Gorge Dam.

In 1963, Joe sold the freight line to start the Hiway Grocery in Clark Fork. He began his business in the building that now houses Big Sky Pantry, and later expanded it by building the grocery which stands today on Highway 200 in Clark Fork.

Joe, his wife, and children all worked in the store. Joe and Phyllis sold the business in 1975.

He thought he would spend retirement hunting, fishing, and prospecting, but Joe could not completely retire. He worked as the city clerk of Clark Fork for several years and also drove a school bus in the late 1970s and into the 1980s.

Once again he tried retirement. Joe and Phyllis spent several enjoyable winters in their home in Overton, Nev. Joe found places to hike even in the desert mountains surrounding Overton.

Joe began his battle with arthritis about 1997. He refused to give up working around his home until the arthritis began to get the better of him in 2001. And then other health problems began to weaken him. During all of his battles, he never lost his patience, or his appreciation for his family and for all those who helped care for him, nor did he lose the twinkle in his bright blue eyes.

Joe was a supporting member of the Clark Fork United Methodist Church, a charter and life member of the Clark Fork Veterans of Foreign Wars, and helped establish the Rod and Gun Club in Clark Fork in 1948.

He is survived by his loving wife of more than 64 years, Phyllis at the home in Clark Fork; four children, Phillip (and Susan) Brashear of Coos Bay, Ore., Diane Copley of Sandpoint, Bruce Brashear of San Francisco and Clark Fork, and Tim (and Gail) Brashear of Clark Fork; three granddaughters, including Erika Cummings of Las Palmas, Calif.; one grandson and three great-grand children; two sisters, Phyllis (and Bob) Rice of Silverton, Idaho, and Wilma McCord of Kennewick, Wash.; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Although he has left us to go on to a world devoid of pain and afflictions, he will remain with us forever in our hearts.

Friends may call, to pay their respects, at the Coffelt Funeral Chapel, Friday afternoon from 4-6 p.m.

Memorials may be made to the Clark Fork United Methodist Church or to the Bonner County Food Bank.

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the care of Coffelt Funeral Service of Sandpoint.