Magnuson, William R.

William R. Magnuson, 77, succumbed on Oct. 29 to complications from post-polio syndrome.

Raised on a farm in Min., Bill's life changed when he took a job on the Fremont National Forest in Oregon. Big valleys and pine-covered mountains were what he called living. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in forestry and took a job marking timber in the Nez Perce National Forest. He was drafted during the Korean War and served in the Army from 1953 to 1955. Before he went back to work in Idaho, he met Rose in Minneapolis. She married him and moved "out west" for the next 53 years. They raised three children, Mary, Leaf, and Swen. Bill enjoyed a great lifestyle working in timber and later as a district ranger with the Forest Service in Idaho and Montana.

In 1986, Bill retired and he his family moved to an old place on Flathead Lake near many of their friends. For 13 years, they entertained friends, remodeled, enjoyed a rural lifestyle and became the proud grandparents of Bonnie and Madeline Magnuson and Laura Wylie. Bill loved wandering the hills with his dogs, monitoring bluebird boxes, and fishing on demand with his tiny granddaughters.

When Bill's health began to fail, Rose moved them to Idaho, closer to their children. His family and friends miss him greatly, but we rejoice that he had such a full life and find comfort knowing he was greeted by his Springer spaniel, a little Australian Shepard, and five Labrador retrievers as well as greeting old friends and family and as usual, making many new friends.