BLAKE ANDERSON obituary

WHITEFISH - Blake Gregory Anderson, 46, of Whitefish died on Sunday, June 22, 2003, at the family home from complications of diabetes.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the Austin Funeral Home in Whitefish. Funeral services will be on Friday at 11 a.m. at the Whitefish Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Andy Kennaly officiating. Grave side will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Crown Hill Cemetery in Cut Bank with the Rev. Paul Kohler officiating.

Blake was born July 17, 1956, in Farmington, N.M. He moved to Cut Bank at the age of 7 months, where he attended grade school through the 7th-grade. The family moved to Havre where he attended Havre High School.

Blake participated in competitive swimming in Cut Bank and Havre, both AAU and high school. He remained a lover of water sports all his life and spent many hours sailing on the Whitefish Lake.

Blake attended Montana State University-Bozeman and Montana State University-Billings. While in Billings, he learned to play the bagpipe, and he played and marched with the Billings Bagpipe band in many parades and functions, including the annual Red Lodge International Festival.

In 1986 Blake moved to the Flathead Valley and worked with this father on the family Christmas Tree and Landscape plantation until ill health required curtailment.

Blake was an avid reader, science fiction buff, coin collector, collector of Celtic music, and regular listener of "The Thistle and Shamrock." He had a huge heart, great courage, a kind, gentle and generous soul.

Survivors include his parents, Mitzi and Bob Anderson of Whitefish; brother, Grant Anderson of Kalispell; sister, Dana (Joe) Thompson of Seattle; aunt, Cecelia Banks of Avon, Conn .; one nephew; and many cousins.

Memorial may be made to the Diabetes Association or to the Whitefish Athletic and Aquatic facility.