Robert Eugene Pipinich

Robert, Bob, Pipinich, 80, joined his wife in Heaven on Friday May 20, 2016. He had recently been hospitalized at St. Pats and was under great care of the staff at Riverside Healthcare Center to regain strength and mobility in order to move into assisted living but his heart failed suddenly while sleeping.
Bob was born on July 2, 1935 in Anaconda, Montana to John and Emma Pipinich. He attended Anaconda high school and then joined the United States Air Force at the end of the Korean War in 1954. He got his electronics degree and camera repairman certificate and was a reconnaissance photographer in the Air Force. During his Air Force career he received a National Defense Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal, and was chosen to be the photographer when President Eisenhower came to dedicate the new Air Force Academy in Denver, Colorado. While serving our country, he met and married his beautiful bride, Luella Buck, of Missoula, Montana in 1955. They had six children; Gene, Judy, John, Jolene, Tim and Nick. He was a lifetime member of the VFW.
After his military service, he helped his parents run the Turf Bar and Grill in Anaconda, Montana. In addition, he had a refrigeration repair business. In 1962, Bob was hired by the Anaconda Company as an electronic technician for their research division and became their electronic computer systems specialist until it closed in 1980. That same year he was hired by Champion Intl. Frenchtown Paper Mill and moved his family to Missoula, Montana. He was their journeyman instrument mechanic as the company became Smurfit-Stone Container where he retired in 1998. He received special recognition for his efforts in the development and implementation of their TRS emissions monitoring system.
While working at Stone Container, he was elected Montana State Senator for District 33 in 1989 and served two terms. While in the senate, he was chairman of the Fish and Game Commission as well as the Labor Commission. He served on the Public Health & Safety Committee and Labor Committee.
Bob was an avid outdoorsman; spending much of his leisure time hunting elk and deer with his sons, Gene, John, Tim, Nick, and grandsons. He loved boating, fishing and camping at Georgetown Lake and all over Montana. He also enjoyed chasing steelhead and salmon in Idaho. He and his wife, Luella, and their adult kids and grandkids enjoyed many summers at their property on Georgetown Lake. He loved tying flies and making that special one for the big catch. He enjoyed being a ham operator for many years and he had fun making intricate doll houses and furniture with his son Nick.
He was preceded in death by his parents John and Emma Pipinich and his wife Luella (Buck) Pipinich. Bob is survived by his sister Sherry (Nelson) Compestine and her son Tony Nelson and wife Nora; his son, Gene Pipinich and wife Cindy, daughter Judy Smith, son John Pipinich and wife Claire, daughter Jolene Carr and husband William Carr Jr., son Tim Pipinich and wife Leann, son Nick Pipinich and wife Dawn, his grandchildren Jake Pipinich, Bill Pipinich, Tim Pipinich and wife Katie, Wendy Fisher-Vilgos, Raymond Fisher, Jamie Fisher, David Pipinich, Marie Pipinich, William Carr III, Michael Carr, Emilie Carr, Maria Pipinich, Liane Pipinich, Kollen Pipinich and seven great grandchildren.
A graveside service with military honors will be held at 1:00 at Sunset Memorial Gardens on Saturday, July 9, 2016. His Celebration of Life service will follow at 2 PM at Sunset Memorial Funeral Home followed by a reception in their community room.
The family suggests donations and memorials to go to Missoula Aging Services, 337 Stephens Ave. Missoula, MT 59801 or go to https://missoulaagingservices.org/support-us/donate-now in memory of Robert, Bob, Pipinich.