John Paul Windham

John P. Windham, 64 of Hamilton passed away May 25, 2017 in Missoula.  John was born October 16, 1952 in Kilgore, TX, the son of Haskell and Dorothy Windham and grew up in Waskom, Texas.  He spent most of his early days making straight A’s in school and pondering the meaning of life while assembling plastic models of airplanes, ships and classic cars.  He eventually migrated to Longview, Texas, where he practiced the art of tomfoolery with his brother from another mother, Dennis Ponder.  There he met his first wife and her son, and discontent with the lifestyle of east Texas, John took his small clan and headed south to Austin where their daughter was born.  In Austin, John found that he could express himself amongst his collective and explore the ideas of thinking outside of the box.  He eventually became a Registered Nurse and decided to head North to the big sky country of Montana on his own, to start another chapter of his life. He strongly believed that laughter is the best medicine, and could be located in his workplaces by following the sound of laughter, or by tracking the nurse in the bright Hawaiian scrub top.  He befriended many of the locals and met another important partner in adventure, and her daughter, and they joined him in his quest for balance and enlightenment.

John is survived by his daughter Ashley Windham, stepson Chris Wieber, good friend Lisa Milch and her daughter Laura, Buddy the dog, sister Annie Schmalfeldt, sister Patricia Hicks, brother Jerry Windham, ex-wife Vicky Holden, and many great friends here, there and everywhere. We would like to thank all of John's wonderful caregivers, the J team, Riverside Health Care, Palliative Care and Partners Hospice who kept John smiling.   A memorial pot luck will be held July 15th at 2PM, 1057 Tefft St., Corvallis.  Wear your favorite Hawaiian shirt!