William "Willie" H. Douglas Jr. Obituary (1950

William H. (Willie) Douglas Jr, 73, passed away Saturday, September 2, 2023, at his home in Eureka, MT. He was born in Eureka on January 29, 1950, to Bill and Cora Douglas. Willie was raised in Eureka and after high school immediately enlisted in the Army which took him all the way to Maryland for a taste of big city life. He was perhaps the only person driving around DC trying to navigate traffic in his hotrod GTO! In the Army, he studied Business Management/Accounting and received expert weapons badge recognition for both the M16 and M14. After his honorable discharge he continued to serve in the National Guard as a helicopter crew chief for an additional year. In 1971, he moved back to Eureka and started working his way up at Kennedy- Stevens Mill from rough lumber grader to Vice President and then worked several years in Alaska for Pearson of Alaska Inc. as a Cat Foreman, for seismic exploration on the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic. He enjoyed working closely with geologic survey crews and learned a great deal in that process. Willie loved running heavy equipment and continued to work as a cat operator for many years in both logging and road building, he even helped pioneer the new Highway 93 in the late 80's before moving on to plant operator of Eureka Pellet Mills and then retiring at Lincoln County Refuse. Willie enjoyed spending time with close friends and family, good food, the outdoors, classic cars and other simple pleasures like working on the wood lathe or going huckleberry picking. He was a kind and loving soul who will be dearly missed. Preceding him in death are father Bill; mother Cora; and brother Roy Douglas. Survivors include his partner Jada Pinson of Eureka; sister Nancy Godlove of Boise ID; son Kirk Douglas of Belgrade MT; and two daughters Amber Barone of Dillon MT and Erika Tucker of Eureka MT; along with two grandchildren Joy Zellers and Silas Tucker. Services will be Saturday, September 23, 2023, at Tobacco Valley Cemetery at 2pm. Immediately after the service there will be an option to gather for a celebration of life at Frontier Bar, Rexford. Arrangements were under the care of the Schnackenberg Funeral Home of Eureka. Memories and condolences may be shared by visiting www.schnackenbergfh.com