Wayne Dale Bistodeau, 60
Wayne Dale Bistodeau, 60, left us on Tuesday Sept. 3, 2019, due to a heart attack. At peace on his couch in Sandpoint. A celebration of Wayne’s life will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019, at Farmin Park, followed by a gathering at Ivano’s Restaurant.
The lights were on and door open, late into the evenings on a normal day at his shop off McNearney Road. He was working. Working on that next, great, fresh brain storm, or modifying, improving an existing design. He did it all, for everyone. Heavy duty machinery to delicate instrumentation. Metal fabrication was his forté. Evidenced by hundreds of gates, staircases, steel art pieces seen in such public arenas as the Ivano’s Restaurant decorative door gates, to the dome steel roof over the bandstand at Farmin Park.
His work is coast to coast, as are his inventions. His signature business was Multi-Trail Enterprises. The MTE trademark moves daily in the form of custom ATV mounted snow blowers, Big Pigg, truck mounted snow blowers and Ram Flame, his answer to farm field and ditch incineration, for a better crop yield. A new day, another idea.
He also made toys, the bigger the better. Zip lines for a thrill in the air, or snow ball cannons that responded to friends, who “accidentally” barraged him. The responses were measured and tenfold, with great fun.
This humble man began his adventure in Dowagiac, Michigan, on Feb. 18, 1959. Life as a boy on a “hard scrabble” small farm, taught him well. He gleaned a knowledge of machinery, horses, agriculture and survival from hard work. His many professions included farrier, custom van builder, mason, log home builder, the list goes on. He tried and learned. A stint in the Army, wiring ordinance, gave him an extraordinary ability in circuitry and wiring, from computers to plasma cutters.
Without Sharon, his beloved wife of 38 years, none of this would have been possible. Her nursing career kept the projects going forward. Son Justin came along, and daughter Jamie. Both, he adored. Sandpoint became their home in 1992. This good, crusty, big hearted man was always there for a friend.
His projects were frustratingly late, but his friends understood. His brain was on to something else, and we loved him for that little kid enthusiasm. He was an inventor, improver and fabricator. Greatly self-educated, his mind was keen.
To all those he touched, his passing leaves a huge void. We all loved him well. He was beautiful!
Survivors include: mother Delores Verburg, Traverse City, Michigan; brothers Norman Bistodeau and husband Andrew Mitchell, Traverse City, and Leeroy Bistodeau, Jones, Michigan; sister Paula Rumsey, Kalamazoo, Michigan. His father, Donald, died in 2003.
Immediate family: wife, Sharon, Sandpoint.; son Justin and his partner, Tim Kaufman, Las Vegas; and daughter Jamie and her sidekick, Thor Scharnhorst, Sandpoint. He leaves many other loved nieces, nephews, cousins, and relatives.
Memorial donations may be made to Potlatch Federal Credit Union in Memory of Wayne Bistodeau to benefit the Sandpoint High School welding program.
Lakeview Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Sandpoint is handling the arrangements. Please visit Wayne’s online memorial at lakeviewfuneral.com and sign his guest book.