Alvin D. Sparks
October 8, 1919 \u2013 November 4, 2010 <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we are born, we meet people whom we think will be with us for our entire life\u2019s journey. These people are our parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur parents are with us for as long as we absolutely need them. They too have journeys they must complete. We live on with the memories of their love, affection, friendship, guidance and their ever presence.\u201d
Alvin Delaus Sparks was born October 8th, 1919 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Walter Asa and Alma (Berger) Sparks. Al was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Donald Lee Sparks and the true love of his life, Lillian Maxine (Hartman)Sparks. Al was truly a free spirit. After graduating South Milwaukee High School in 1939, he left his farm home in Milwaukee to join the Army Air Corp on August 12, 1941. While stationed at Scottfield, IL Al met Maxine and after a six month courtship, the two were married on May 2, 1942, thus starting their 62 year life journey together.<\/p>\n
Not long after their marriage, Al was sent abroad during WWII. He was a tail gunner with the 390th Bombing Group on a B-17 (Cabin in the Sky) that was shot down over France. There were few survivors of the plane crash. Al was one of the survivors, suffering a broken back and then imprisoned in Stalag 1X C for 357 days before his \u201cescape\u201d back into American arms.<\/p>\n
Born to Al and Maxine Sparks were 3 daughters, Sharron Ann, Virginia Carol and Donna Lee. There was a great deal of travel for the Sparks family due to Al\u2019s military service, including: Missouri, Texas, England, Taiwan, Hawaii, Philippines, Washington State, and lastly Montana, where Al retired and then called home.<\/p>\n
In 1963 Al retired from the Air Force. After a short stint of civilian life Al joined the Civil Service where he continued working until he retired in 1985 at Malmstrom A.F.B. in Great Falls, MT. Al worked just over 40 years for the military and Civil Service.<\/p>\n
Our Father\/Granddad\/Grandpa was a true socialite who enjoyed every cha<\/p>\n
nce to tell a joke, a story or offer an opinion. Al loved to read anything and everything he could get his hands on, watch and report on the weather, work crossword puzzles, work in his yard, spend time with family and cheer on and root for the fabulous and infamous Green Bay Packers. A story, a joke, a memory, dad was at his best when he shared all of these. It wasn\u2019t until much later in Al\u2019s years that he started sharing his WWII experiences, stories, and descriptions of what it was like for him to be so far from home at a young age and just married, to be at war and held prisoner by the Germans. Some of his memories of those years brought tears to Al\u2019s eyes. He often expressed, \u201cwar is hell\u201d, \u201cI\u2019ve truly seen the best years of this great country\u201d, and \u201cI\u2019m proud to have been a part of The Greatest Generation\u201d.<\/p>\n
There are so many people that touched and enriched Al\u2019s life, here are just a few of those people: Ric Oberholz, RN with Hospice of St. Peters and the entire Hospice staff; Jo and Leroy Gibson and Shirley from \u201cOur House\u201d; the entire medical staff at Ft. Harrison Veteran\u2019s Hospital that nurtured, cared for and encouraged dad for the last several years; Thomas Harlan and staff for compassionate, professional, legal assistance; Pamela Eldridge and her husband John for the time and care they so graciously gave dad; his many friends from the Broadwater Athletic Club including Billie and Gail; and his fine neighbors Dean and Diane Olson and Geri and Dave Payne. Many thanks to each and every one of you for who you are and all the positive influences you contributed to Al\u2019s life. Thank you for helping him through his last days, most of all, thank you for helping us, his family, get through his last days. We are forever grateful.<\/p>\n
Al leaves behind him the legacy of a family that loves him deeply and will miss him beyond words; daughters Sharron Sparks, Virginia Violette (Roger) and Donna Lee Owens (James), his 8 grandchildren Scott Delaus Kobold, Michelle LeeAnn Kobold, McKinley Sparks-Lowry (Julie), Paul Violette (Kamelia), Daniel Lee Violette, Jonathan, Janine and Jessica Braaten, and 6 great grandchildren, Jacob, Julian and Alexandra (Lexi) Violette, and Taylor, Christian and Edward Braaten.<\/p>\n
Dad, your journey here with us ended on November 4th in the early morning hours. Each of us joins together to embrace you and your life as you travel on now, joining those friends, comrades, and loved ones who are waiting for you and are ready to join you on your next journey. Dad, we salute you, a member of the \u201cGreatest Generation\u201d, with pride, admiration, respect, and our undying love as you rise now to that \u201cCabin in the Sky\u201d. Auf Wiederschen Dad, we love you.<\/p>\n
Memorial services will be held for Al at the Anderson, Stevenson and Wilke Funeral Home at 650 Logan on Monday, November 22nd at 1:00 in the afternoon, followed by full military honors at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery, Fort Harrison, Montana.<\/p>\n
At Al\u2019s request, memorials may be sent to the Disabled Veterans of America or the Montana State Veterans Cemetery, Fort Harrison, Montana.<\/p>\n","photo":false,"youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}