Kenneth H. Coulston

Kenneth H. “Kenny” Coulston, 89, passed away quietly, in Sandpoint, on Friday July 31, 2015. Funeral services will be conducted 11:00 am Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015 at the First Christian Church in Sandpoint, with Pastor Tony Nelson, officiating. Kenny was born July 11, 1926 in Sandpoint, Idaho at the family home to Clarence (Coley) and Ada (Bracy) Coulston. His entire life was spent in the Sandpoint community-building his home on the property given to him by his parents, fishing on Lake Pend Oreille, hunting on the nearby mountains, serving and teaching at First Christian Church and working in the local lumber industry. He was a true Sandpoint native! Kenny attended local schools, graduating from high school in 1944. It was there he met and courted his future wife, Bertha Springer. They became engaged before Kenny joined the US Navy. He entered WWII in December 1944 and served aboard the Aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the Pacific Theatre. He was honorably discharged on August 19, 1946 and returned home to Sandpoint and Bertha. They were married August 29, 1946. He always teased Bert by saying, “I was only a free man for 10 days!” With the help of his dad, Kenny built the home he and Bert shared for 68 years. They raised their three daughters there and also brought a niece into their home as another daughter- a pretty remarkable task since Kenny shared that house with 5 women, which only had one bathroom! As these daughters grew up, their house became the hub for countless teenagers going to football games, girls dressing for drill team performances, people sitting on the lawn enjoying the 4th of July fireworks at Memorial Field and people listening to the Festival music , again from their lawn. Kenny’s work career began in High School, working for Jack Foster at the Signal gas station, pumping gas and washing windshields. He resumed that job when he returned from the war, but soon became a business owner. Kenny partnered with Leonard Powell to operate a Carnation Milk delivery service in Sandpoint for a few years. He sold his share of the business to Leonard, when he changed careers and joined the local lumber industry. Kenny first was employed by Pack River Lumber Company; but when the employees threatened to strike he sought employment at Hedlund Lumber Company. He pulled lumber off the green chain, was a lumber grader and eventually was promoted to the position of a roving millwright. As the company changed to Georgia Pacific and then to Louisiana Pacific, Kenny traveled extensively throughout the Northwest building and repairing saw mills for both GP and LP. Bert would travel with him when she could. They enjoyed being together and enjoyed seeing new places and meeting new people. Kenny retired from LP in 1988, but his building/carpenter career continued past retirement. He kept busy repairing, fixing, building, remodeling for family and friends until 2014 when health issues slowed him down. He so enjoyed working with his hands-creating and building both small and large projects. A “job well done” brought him great joy and satisfaction. Kenny was a great example and mentor at First Christian Church. His faith in Christ continued to grow and change his life over the years. He was modest about this example, but he always showed love and compassion for everyone he met. He knew no strangers. He immediately liked everyone. His desire was to serve and help people wherever he could. He was a life-long elder at First Christian Church, making himself available to help people in many ways. He also served on the Church’s board and building committees. At times, Kenny became a one man crew to repair the church structure. He sang in the church choir, taught Sunday School Classes, hosted small group gatherings in his home, housed visiting missionaries, hosted youth sledding and beach parties, cut and stacked firewood for those in need during the winter, grew produce for the food bank, took communion to shut-ins, visited the sick in the hospitals and the list continues.. He loved people. He loved to talk to people. Was he perfect? No, but he was genuine. Kenny showed on-going unconditional love to his family. The rules were pretty simple-right was right and wrong was wrong, and if he thought you were wrong he loved you anyway. Kenny loved his daughters, his sons-in-law as his own sons, loved his grandchildren and great grandchildren with great delight! He loved being a part of their lives and interacting with them all. But mostly, he loved his wife of 68 years, Bert. Their love was never ending and a great example of married love that is committed and enduring. Kenny continued to care for Bert in their family home for years as she slowly declined into dementia. And finally, in August of 2011, with great sadness, their family decided to place Bert in an assisted living facility. Kenny visited her nearly daily. This past year, he chose to visit her at lunch time to feed her, because “she eats better for me.” Kenny, dad, grandpa, Uncle Kenny, we thank you for the great legacy that you have left for us. We will miss you greatly! But we will see you again and join you soon. You are probably making sure our permanent heavenly mansions are built perfectly for us. Judy, Lois, Kathy, Lorrie and our families. Kenny is survived by his four daughters: Judy (Larry) Elliot of Sagle, Idaho, Lois Garcia of Meridian, ID, Kathy (Gary) McConnell of Deer Park, WA and Lorrie (Neal) Tacke of Windsor, CO; 7 grandchildren: Kara (Greg) Henning, Krista (Dale) Shaw, Dennis (Sheena) Garcia, Dustin (Sara) Garcia, Eric (Shayne) McConnell, Dan (Katie) McConnell, Ryan Tacke; 13 great grandchildren; brother: Gerald Coulston of Dunnigan, CA and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Kenny was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence Coulston and Ada Coulston, and grandson David Garcia. Memorials may be donated to the First Christian church Youth Education Fund.