Frederick John Marek, 74

Frederick John Marek, 74, passed away on Oct. 17, 2014, at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, Oct. 20, 2014, at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

Father, husband, brother, uncle, friend, Frederick John Marek was all of these things and more.

He was a man of words. Words of love for his wife and daughters. Words of support for his sisters and nephews. Words of encouragement, words of sympathy and consolation, and words of wisdom for those who needed them. He could talk to anyone about anything at anytime and he loved the way those words could bring people together.

He was a man of craft. He loved good books, good movies, and good conversations – the magic of stories, real and imagined. He loved things made with care and attention, and he tried to bring that same level of dedication to his woodworking. He loved the way that craftsmanship and attention lifted work to another level. And he believed that no job was unmanageable, as long as you had the right tool and the right attitude.

He was a man of people. He was a family man and a community member.

He was genuinely interested in others and their take on life. He learned from others and spread what he had learned in his own life and travels.

He valued people, for their similarities, their differences, and their experiences. He believed that learning from other people and hearing their stories was one of the best times you could have.

He was a man of his time and place, enjoying wherever he was and experiencing places fully. From growing in up in Brooklyn as the son of Polish immigrants, where he roller skated and rode the subway to Coney Island to his Air Force days in England, where he spoke Russian with a Polish accent…

From his early days as a salesman in New York, where he met the woman who became his wife, to his years of financial wizardry for Nissan, where 10,000 used cars a month went through his office, to his final home in Northern Idaho, where he found friends and a community he embraced and supported in a valley that he loved, living his life to the fullest.

Fred rooted himself where he was and gave back to people around him.

Fred Marek was a loving father to Kathryn and Jennifer, an adoring husband to Patricia, a supportive brother to Christine and Zosia, and an affectionate uncle to Paul, John, Mark, Edmund, and Robert. He was a friend, a wise advisor, a drinking buddy, and a loyal confidante. He was a veteran, a salesman, a master of finance, and an enthusiastic woodworker.

Fred was born to John and Mary Marek in Brooklyn, N.Y., on June 22, 1940. Fred lost his battle with leukemia on Friday, Oct. 17, 2014. He left us, brave to the last, surrounded by his family, at Kootenai Health cancer ward. Seventy four years is far too short a time to spend with someone like Freddy, and he will be missed more than words can express.

Fred’s family requests that those wishing to make a memorial gesture, please make donations to Cancer Care, support and assistance for cancer patients and their families at cancercare.org or 1(800) 813-HOPE.

Family and friends are invited to sign Fred’s book at www.bonnersferryfuneralhome.com Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Bonners Ferry Funeral Home.