Harry Thomas Roberson, 81

Harry Thomas Roberson, 81, passed away at his home on Bottle Bay on Monday, Aug. 4, 2008.

Funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 8, in Coffelt's Funeral Chapel. Allen Osborne, a close family friend will officiate. The Panhandle Antique Tractor and Engine Club will provide transportation to Pinecrest Memorial Park

Harry was born the third to the last of 10 children to James and Lula Roberson in Hill City, S.D., on July 15, 1927.

He spent all of his youth in South Dakota, graduating from high school in Hill City.

Harry spent two years in the Army serving as a clerk-typist in an Army hospital in Japan.

After he was discharged from the Army, his brother George and he left South Dakota for Oregon in a very undependable car. He worked in the sawmills and the woods and also in the Veterans Administration hospital in Roseberg.

Then in 1949 the Lord urged him to go to North Idaho, where a sweet young gal was waiting for him. He met Frankie Shields in 1950 and they were married in 1951 in Thompson Fall, Mont.

They raised five children in the Sandpoint and Kootenai area.  He was very proud of his kids and their spouses.

All the young people he got acquainted with throughout the years in his heart of hearts he loved them as his own.

Harry was a people person and knew no strangers. A shopping excursion was not filling a grocery cart; it was a place to find someone to visit with. That's not to say he did not enjoy his food also.

He started his career in the Sandpoint area making butter and cottage cheese and testing cream at the local creamery. He spent one year in a Coeur d'Alene creamery also making ice cream (his favorite food).

 Then he moved his wife and first-born child back to Sandpoint where he delivered milk products from Clark Fork to Priest River for 30 years. Then he worked for the old Co-op Gas and Supply for 12 years.

He retired to a lot of hard work on 20 acres in the Bottle Bay area in 1992.

Harry's favorite things to do, besides spending time with his family and eating, was riding his horses. He especially enjoyed the few years he got to ride with his special neighbor Phil Slocum.

He also liked an excuse to bond (or nap) with his dog Trixie.

He belonged to the Sagle Seniors, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Panhandle Antique Tractor and Engine Club. He got to help restore his 1945 Ferguson tractor "Miss Fergy."

He was an elder of the board at the Kootenai Community Church and the Church of the Wildwood. He was a scout leader, 4-H leader, served on the Kootenai City Council, and a volunteer for the Northside Fire Department.

At one time he was an avid runner, competing in high school and later in life he ran a 27-mile marathon.

He is survived by his wife Frankie, of nearly 56 years; all five children and their spouses, Roger (and Randy) Roberson of Roseburg, Ore.; Ron (and Mickie) Roberson, of Sandpoint, LeAnn (and Randy) Becker of Cocolalla Idaho, Lynett (and Bruce) Ahner of Sandpoint and Letha Roberson of Round Mountain, Nev.; three siblings, Alice Lowe of Santa Rosa, Calif., Dorothy (and Morrie) Nesenbaum of Pleasant Hills, Calif., and George (and Delores) Roberso, of Sandpoint; a sister-in-law, Loretta Roberson, of Hills City, S.D.;  foreign exchange student, Erica Bachaute, of Brazil, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Harry is preceded in death by his parents; four brothers, Vern, Floyd, Fritz and Rube; and two sisters, Atha Mae and Betty Lou.

Family and friends are invited to sign Harry's online guest book at www.coffeltfuneral.com.

Arrangements are under the care of Coffelt Funeral Service of Sandpoint.t