Roger Lee Guthrie, 81

Roger Lee Guthrie, 81, passed away unexpectedly on Feb. 20, 2012, at Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

He was surrounded by his family as he slipped through the gates of Heaven to join those loved-ones who had gone before him. Graveside services will be held on Saturday, June 16, 2012, at 11 a.m. in the Copeland Cemetery north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

Roger was born on Aug. 29, 1930, to Josephine and Chauncey Guthrie at their home in Copeland, Idaho. The sixth of seven children, Roger spent his early years on the family farm, where he developed his love for nature and the outdoors while hunting and fishing in the hills and streams around Copeland.

Roger was a self-taught musician who learned to play by picking up the guitar his brother Bob had forbade him to touch while Bob was away in the service.

Roger had the rare gift of being able to play entirely by ear, never having learned to read a note of music. God blessed him with a melodic voice that enchanted all who heard him sing. He and his brothers were well known musicians who entertained in the area for many years. There was little that brought him greater joy than picking up the guitar or mandolin and making beautiful music with his family.

Roger was an outstanding athlete and was even described as a “future Hall of Fame pitcher” in an edition of the Bonners Ferry Herald. He was recruited as a Minor League pitcher for the Spokane Indians, which was a farm team for the Dodgers at the time, and he played ball for the final portion of that season. Instead of returning to the Indians the next year, he decided to seek his fortune in Alaska, where he ultimately played ball for the Midnight Sun League.

Roger served in the Army during the Korean War, and returned to Bonners Ferry following the conflict to begin work for the Great Northern Railroad, where he worked in the Signal Department. Roger worked as a Signal Crew Foreman for the bulk of his career that spanned more than 45 years with the Great Northern and Burlington Northern Railroads.

While working for the railroad in June of 1964, Roger was hailed for his courageous, life-saving rescue of a Great Northern Lineman who was swept away in the flood-ravaged waters of the swift moving Clark Fork River near Columbia Falls, Montana.

A news report from the time says Roger “jumped over the embankment, becoming momentarily entangled in the fallen wires, and leaped down the 70-degree slope, rolling, scrambling, and clawing his way to the bottom.

He plunged into the water and grabbed Brady’s inert body, floating face down, just as it was being pulled into the 15 mile-per-hour current.” He was later honored for his courage and was presented with shares in the railroad at an event held in Spokane.

In 1954 he met Carol Bartlett, the woman who would become the love of his life, at a dance he was performing for at the Moyie Club. They were married in December of 1956. That union brought them four children, Renee, Gary, Steve and Kim, who grew up together at their family home on the North Side of Bonners Ferry.

Roger was a loving husband and father and his family meant more to him than anything else in the world. He was a man with an outstanding sense of humor who always insured that his home was brimming with laughter. He was mischievous and silly and enjoyed being on the receiving end of a joke as much as being the source of the hilarity. All who met him were immediately taken in by his genuine good nature and sense of mirth that he exuded so effortlessly.

Roger loved being outdoors and spent countless hours fishing with his wife and children and his nephew, Terry, in the many lakes and streams throughout Boundary County. His time around the home was spent tending his immaculate vegetable and flower gardens and he kept his home as a neighborhood showpiece, surrounded by vibrant roses and the singing from the choirs of birds that would flock to the many feeders scattered throughout his yard.

Roger was a natural storyteller and would frequently enthrall his friends and family with tales that would often grow taller with each retelling. He spent several years as a columnist for the Kootenai Valley Times, writing his “For the Birds” column, which served to educate and inform his readers who loved the hobby of feeding and care for wild birds.

He also wrote a column called “Yesteryear” which served as the perfect platform for his nostalgic sojourns to the early days in the history of Boundary County. He was a prolific source of historical reference to the community and was active as a member of the Historical Society at the Boundary County Museum.

Roger spent his final years living in Coeur d’Alene where he spent many hours on his boat, enjoying the natural beauty of the lake, and also made time for vacationing on the Oregon coast or taking in the excitement and lights of the Las Vegas strip.

Roger was preceded in death by his parents, Chauncey Sr. and Josephine Guthrie; sisters Virginia and Marie; brothers John, Robert, and Fred; son-in-law Jeff; nieces Marie and Jenny and nephew Russell. He is survived by wife Carol; daughter Renee (Kelly) Albano; son Gary Guthrie; son Steve (Edie) Guthrie, daughter Kim McCoy; brother, Joseph, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.