Joseph Michael Butsick

Joseph Michael Butsick passed away on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at the age of 86 in his home in Hamilton, Montana.  He was born in Plymouth, Pennsylvania on January 16, 1933 to the late Michael and Stella Durachausky Butsick of Luzerne, PA. 

Joe was raised in Edwardsville Pennsylvania where he cultivated his green thumb working on a farm from the age of 14.  Later in life he mentioned he really wanted to be a cowboy.   After graduating from Edwardsville High School, Joseph entered the U.S. Air Force.  After one enlistment he left service and spent a good portion of his life in Pennsylvania where he married, raised his children and worked at everything from oiling cranes to driving 200-ton dump trucks for the coal mining industry.  Eventually he settled into a career as a nurses aid for a state hospital. 

Joe was an accomplished gardener who could make anything bloom. He loved animals - cats, dogs, even fish - but especially his cat Milo, a giant Maine Coon that was to be his final companion.  Joseph loved hiking, walking in the woods, camping – anything that was outdoors.  Later, Joe took to RV-ing as he followed his eldest son around the west before finally settling down in Mullan, Idaho for 18 years. Most of all, Joe enjoyed fishing, and until his mid-70s could be found fishing Idaho and Montana’s sacred waters.

In his younger days he could wear out a dance floor, floating effortlessly to a waltz or wearing his partner to exhaustion during a polka.

As Joe’s legs gave way to age he enjoyed vintage films, including the silent and modern “talkies” as he so often named them. He never sang much but loved listening to everything from country to opera, celtic to orchestral, classical to Oldies.

While Joe never picked up a golf club he could give you any stat on any player, man or woman and he’d been to every golf course and every major tournament around the world from his lounge chair.

Joseph is survived by his children - Joseph Butsick of Corvallis, MT; Gale Cooney of Scranton, PA; Denise Burd of Nanticoke, PA; Michael Butsick of Nanticoke, PA; Lisa Jones of Hunlock Creek, PA; , Kimberly Gleco of Sweet Valley, PA; Daniel Butsick of Post Falls, ID; and Matthew Butsick of Coeur d’Alene, ID.   Joseph leaves behind 13 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

A private family service will be held near Mullan, Idaho where he spent the majority of his life in the west.

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