ROLAND C CHILDS Obituary (1920

Roland C. "Rolly" Childs, 94, a resident of the Kootenai Valley for the past sixty-eight years, died Sunday (Nov. 9) at his home in Libby. A longtime employee of the J. Neils Lumber Company and later, continuing on with the St. Regis Company, he remained there until his retirement in 1984 following thirty-eight years of service with the company. He was born at Vernon Center, Minnesota to Leslie and Gladys (Fleming) Childs on June 1, 1920 and was raised and educated in the Hill City and Grand Rapids, Minnesota area; following high school, he served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Following the attack of Pearl Harbor, he entered the military, serving in the Army Air Corps as an aircraft instrument technician with the 670th Bomber Squadron of the 416th Bomber Group. He served in the European Theater with the squadron group during the air offensive in Operation Overlord and also served in Northern France, Central Europe, Rhineland and Ardennes. Following the surrender of Germany, he was scheduled to go to the Pacific Theater with the Douglas A-26 group until the surrender of Japan intervened and he was discharged in October of 1945. Rolly came to Libby in February of 1946 to visit his brother Lee when he found work with the J. Neils Lumber Company. He met and married Beulah Johnson October 19, 1947 and they made their home in Libby, raising three children with Beulah working as a nurse at St. John Lutheran Hospital for many years. She preceded him in death in 1984. He married Beulah Price May 12, 1990; they remained in Libby where they happily continued to make their home for the past twenty-four years. He had been an active, sixty-six year member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, holding offices in both the local post as well as the state organization and had served for many years as Honor Guard chaplain, doing honors for deceased veterans on behalf of a grateful nation. In a news article interview done in recent years to honor his service to veterans, he was asked about performing these honors for his peers from the Greatest Generation; he simply replied with a line from that service, "As comrade after comrade departs, we march on with our ranks grown thinner". As a longtime member of the United Methodist Church, Rolly served for many years as treasurer along with numerous other functions. He was an accomplished gardener and enjoyed fishing and hunting in the great Montana outdoors and, in recent years, had been a great fan of the Seattle Mariners. Survivors include his wife Beulah; his children, Michael Childs and wife Diann of Condon, MT; Leslie Spain and husband Bruce of Ferndale, WA; and Bonnie Schultz and husband John of Chatteroy, WA; sisters Doris Lee of Roach, MO; Donna Tix and husband Paul of Avon, MN; step-children Nancy Gab and husband Tom of Libby; and Bill Price and wife Midge of Kuna, ID; a niece, Cathy Powell and husband George of Libby; 7 grandchildren, 4 step-grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren and 10 step-great grandchildren. Services will be Friday (Nov. 14) at 11:00 a.m. at the United Methodist Church and interment with full military honors following at the City of Libby Cemetery. Friends may call at the Schnackenberg & Nelson Funeral Home from 1-8 p.m. Thursday. Condolences and memories may be shared online by visiting www.schnackenbergjh.com.