Tribute to Frederick Eugene Guthrie

This is a tribute to Frederick Eugene Guthrie, patriarch of the Guthrie family, who departed this life on the last day of the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Ten.

I met Fred in 1950 when he and Annabelle visited the Hagen family in Saskatchewan, Canada. He was tall, handsome, valiant and vivacious and he made a good and lasting impression on the relatives of his bride.

In the 1990s Fred gave me a beautiful pencil sketch he had drawn of my childhood home, a gift I will treasure always.

Whether it was flying small aircraft, a skill he acquired in his early twenties, playing baseball with the Copeland Sluggers or making music with the Guthrie Boys, Fred was living life to the fullest.

Fred had worked with the Signal Department on the Great Northern Railroad, at the Bonners Ferry Post Office and as an aircraft electrician at Geiger Field in Spokane, Washington and McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington.  He had a passion for buying and selling cars and homes.

The greatest treasure in Fred’s life was his family. He was a loving and devoted son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, uncle and cousin. Fred never met a stranger; he made friends wherever he went.

At a family gathering at his home on October of last year Fred and his son, Russell played guitars and with sister-in-law Caroline Guthrie sang the sad and lovely song, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. The following verse expresses the sadness we all feel:

Love is like a dying ember, only memories remain. Through the ages I’ll remember blue eyes crying in the rain.

Fred, you have been an inspiration to us, to Virginia Guthrie who died on New Years Eve 1950 at the age of 33 years, to Jack (1985) and Elaine Guthrie, Robert (1997) and Caroline Guthrie, Marie (2002) and Joseph (1989) Labarile, Roger and Carol Guthrie, Joseph and Ruth Guthrie and our families.  Thank you for the love, laughter and joy you shared with us. Thanks be to God for the precious gift of your life.

Like Laban of the Old Testament we say, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other.” Genesis 31:49

By Ruth Hagen Guthrie

Dover, Idaho