Floyd L. Bethke

Floyd Loyd Bethke (FLUB)

The man, the myth, the legend left us on June 12, 204. By the way Floyd wrote his own life sketch. Floyd was born September 2nd 1937 in Round-up Montana. His family moved to Missoula, Montana during his teen years. He went to high school at Sentinel. Shortly after graduation, Floyd had the honor of playing in the East/West Shrine game at Great Falls. Right after the game, a group of football players had to report to active duty at Fort Ord, California. It was six months of boot camp training for active reserves after which Floyd enrolled in University of Montana in Missoula and played football for the Griz with a full ride scholarship.

Floyd worked his early college years at Big Crew Ranger Station in the North Peak of the Flathead River and later worked two summers on the Powell Ranger Station in Idaho. One season as a lookout, the other as a smoke chaser. He completed college in 1962 with a master's in forestry. His smoke jumping career started in 1960 and lasted sixteen years with over 300 jumps.

He married the love of his life, Judy Kay McDonald on May 2, 1965. A year later they were blessed with a baby girl, Shauna K Bethke and  5 years 11 months later, a baby boy, Josha Vance Bethke.

In 1976, he became an aviation specialist in Boise, Idaho. At which time he became a EMT and held this license through his later years. It served him well. They were the 1st EMT helicopter crew in Idaho. Later he moved the family to Whitehall, Montana where he worked as the fire manager officer in (Butt, Montana) Butte, Montana on the Deer Lodge National Forest.

Then on too California as a district fire management officer for the Sequoia National Forest, so the family went from freezing cold to hotter than a cast iron frying pan. They lived in Kernville, 60 mile North of Bakerfield. It was here, Floyds EMT training paid off. He rescued a young man who caught his foot in the Kern River. Floyd stayed with him for hours and would not allow them to take the young man's legs.

In 1981 he transferred services coming to Burley, Idaho as BLM Fire Management specialist, an advanced level fire specialist more concerned with the use of fire as management tool, than that of a standard fire suppression officer.

In the fire station his primary job was still fire suppression. He oversaw a seasonal fire crew that had initial attack responsibility for the entire 1.5 million acres across of BLM district. Plus, another million acres in the other jurisdiction, including BLMS Shoshone district in the South-Central Idaho and BLM district in Northern Utah and Nevada.

Floyd was a member of a class one overhead fire team, as operations branch chief and operation chief. He also was a class two fire boss. After 32 years of fire management work, he retired in 1990 and moved to Hamilton, Montana, living up Sleeping Child in a house he designed himself. Floyd’s contending desire to keep a hand in wildlife fire, he spent time as an engine boss, he was assigned to cover different fires. This engine crew was the oldest crew in the United States for three years running. They still had to pass the pack-test for fire line assignments. He turned 70, 71 and 72 on these fires.

Other than fires, Floyd loved hunting. Harvesting an elk every year since he was 14 along with deer, antelope, a moose or two and even bears, he had hunting stories, enjoyed by all.

He also loved to draw and doodled many people to include people in Ireland. His art will live on in the stained glass. He made a huge stained-glass window depicting a fire scene that he donated to the Smoke Jumpers Museum in Missoula, Montana for all to see.

Floyd lost his beloved wife Judy to cancer. He is survived by his children Shauna and Joshua; they blessed him with four grand kids, Nie, Jacob, Shaunnekqua and Brendle.

In Closing remember Floyd the Man, The Myth, The Legion; go forth and tell stories of this great man. He will be missed.

Memorial services with Military Honors will be held Saturday, June 22, 2024 at 11:00 am at the Daly-Leach Chapel.  There will be a pot-luck reception following in the funeral home's community room.