Mike Haynes, 90

Michael “Mike” Haynes, a longtime resident of Boundary County, left us to be with his wife ,Katherine Haynes, on April 12, 2015.

There will be no services at this time but a memorial will be announced at a later time.

Mike wanted a little of his history in his obituary so here it is in his words:

Mike Haynes was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Dec. 31, 1924. He was the only child of Gene and Dorothy Haynes.

Until he was seven the Haynes family lived in the northern Ontario bush country. They lived about 14 miles from the little town of Hornepayne.

 When he was seven the family decided to go West. The winter of 1932-1933 they stayed at West Creston, British Columbia. In the spring they moved to Columbia Falls, Mont. After two years there, Gene bought a small orchard at the south end of Kootenay Lake in British Columbia. They were about a mile south of the little settlement of Kuskanook.

Mike was married twice, once briefly around 1950 to a girl named Pearl Lindsay who had a ranch at Rock Creek, B.C. That marriage broke up and he didn’t remarry until 1965 when he married an Albert girl, Katherine Brauer.

 In 1951 the family decided to move to Idaho. They rented a little house from John Morris near Porthill.

In 1957 Mike bought the George Pries property. He lived there first with his parents and later when he married with his wife, Katherine.

Mike had one son, Jamie by his first wife and a daughter, Kathy “Kat” by Katherine. Besides his two children he is survived by six grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and seven step-great grandchildren. He had a special connection to his grandchildren.

After his mother passed away in 1972, Mike and Katherine moved to District Two in Boundary County to a log home Mike built, one of the first non-kit log homes in the county. They were there 30 years then bought the Bob Robertson place on Highway 2. Katherine passed away in 2007. Mike and she were together for 41 years.

Mike’s final closing words he wrote for his obituary are

“Honesty and fair dealing should be everyone’s goal. It was mine.”

And a note by Jen Haynes, Mike’s granddaughter and caregiver:

Mike was many things in life. He was a pioneer, a Christmas tree cutter, a carpenter, an author and an artist, but above all he was a true gentleman who loved his family. 

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Habitat for Humanity.  Donations can also be made to the Katherine Haynes Art Scholarship fund at the Columbia Bank in Bonners Ferry.