Obituaries

Celebration of Life: James Ronald Short “Jim”, 81, of Libby 

 

We will be having a celebration of life in remembrance of Jim Short on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. at the VFW Post 1548 located at 114 W 2nd Street in Libby.

We  would love everyone to come and share their memories of Jim with friends and family.

Death Notice: David W. Meacham, 51, of Libby

Arrangements are by Schnackenberg Funeral Home in Libby. Arrangements are pending and will be announced.

 

David W. Meacham, 51, died on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021 in Kalispell.

Death Notice: Tanner W. Meacham, 17, of Libby

Tanner W. Meacham, 17, died on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021 at Missoula.

Arrangements are by Schnackenberg Funeral Home in Libby.  Arrangements are pending and will be announced.

 

 

 

Lee Tonner, 87, of Libby

Lee Tonner passed away on Oct. 12, 2021 at the age of 87. His family was important to him and he is very deeply loved by the family and others who knew him. He gave his own love freely and without judgement or conditions. He was a sweet soul.

Music was a dominant feature for most of his years. He pretended to play the cello as a young child and was started on an actual cello lessons when he was nine. He played for more than 70 years in several orchestras, chamber music groups and other smalls groups  enriching those who heard his sensitive and beautiful performances. He played other instruments a little, including the piano, viola, flute, and almost anything he picked up. In his 40’s he turned to the fiddle, specializing first in Irish music and later playing bluegrass.

Lee spent his childhood in various towns in Nebraska, Iowa and Ohio, as his father Martin, a minister, changed parsonages. Martin sang with a lovely tenor voice.

After high school graduation, Lee received two bachelor’s degrees, a BA in Liberal Arts with a Music Major, and a BM in Music Therapy. He taught junior and senior high school music in California for a number of years before returning to college. He then received  his MSW in clinical work, and spent the rest of his professional career doing psychotherapy. Like his personality, his approach to counseling was supportive. He disliked diagnostic labels and tried to help clients find their own strengths. His areas of special interest were relationships, addictions, and domestic violence. He took a very active part in expanding the Women’s Helpline in Libby and developing other parts of a domestic violence program including Victim Witness Protection.

He retired in 1996 which gave him more time to play music and he did just that. He started a number of students on their chosen instruments. He played cello accompanying his wife on the Celtic harp, Most of all he loved jamming with other musicians of all abilities and instruments. For more than 25 years he was dedicated to playing every Friday noon at Libby’s Mountain Meadows gift shop.

Other life pleasures included reading, eating almost anything, and folks dancing. He jogged, hiked, walked, biked and X-C skied. He had worked on a ranch during his college years, riding horses, moving cattle, repairing fences and bucking haybales. He rode a horse well and loved all animals especially cats and dogs, and they were drawn to him, He loved canoeing with his wife, and for years they enjoyed outings together to local lakes and marshes. He liked kites. He liked throwing a ball for an enthusiastic dog. On projects he was quietly insistent on doing things his own way, and taught his children a variety of skills from playing chess to how to solidly stack firewood or haybales, to horsemanship, and especially to good values in life. He showed them by example to be kind and to accept others without judgement. Perhaps not coincidentally, three of his children love, love, love their pets and give them kind care.

He enjoyed being silly when out of the public eye, for instance embarrassing his children by pretending to fall off the piano bench, and hoping and hooting with a brother –in-law as they pretend to be chimpanzee brothers.

He is survived by Carol his beloved wife of 52 years, and his children Susan, Jessica, Mathew with wife Miriam, Dave and Annette with husband Dave and their children Joseph, Jacob and Bailey. Other loving survivors include his family by marriage Ann and David, Kay, Gordon, Jim and Patty, all of whom loved Lee and who helped especially in his last extremity.

Memorial donations could be given in Lee’s name to Kootenai Pets for Life in Libby, honoring his great love for animals and his support for rescues.

There will be a celebration of his life later.