Obituary - Elmer Afdahl

Elmer Afdahl was born July 29, 1923, the second of three children, to Ervin and Bernadette Afdahl. He graduated from Rudyard High School in 1941. Near the end of WWII he was drafted into the Army.

After graduating from Montana State University School of Pharmacy, Elmer began his career in Spokane in 1952. When he took a position at Sacred Heart Hospital in Havre, he met Donna Tighe Lucke. They were married in 1956 and he adopted her three daughters. The birth of their son Brian in 1957 completed their family.

In 1959 he moved his family to Rudyard, opening a drugstore. When Donna became disabled in 1966, he sold the store and opened the Clinic Pharmacy in Chester. Eventually he moved to Poplar Bluff, MO, where he worked in a VA hospital. In the following years, he bought and ran a dairy farm in ID and a motel in OR, moving finally to live on his son's 10 acres in Milton Freewater, OR. Leaving his son for a time, he came back to Chester where his wife died in 2012. His last years were spent in Milton Freewater near his son. He passed away peacefully of natural causes Oct. 19, 2020 at the age of 97.

Elmer is survived by his son Brian (Ginny), and three daughters, Angel Lucke of Holly Pond, AL, Marie (Arnie) Woods of Chester, MT; Marti Baird of Riverside, AL, and several nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Kenneth (Helen), and sister Joyce (Dale) Lumsden.