Frank Edward Coupal

Frank Edward Coupal, 90, passed away quietly on Friday, October 27, 2017 in Sandpoint, Idaho. A memorial service will be held at 12 p.m., Saturday, November 18 at the Heron Methodist Church, in Heron, Mont., with Pastor T.J. Parker officiating. He was a loyal and devoted husband, loving father of five children, and an active member of the community always ready with a smile and a helping hand.

Frank was born October 3, 1927 in Orwell, N.Y., the eldest of three sons of Edward and Gladys Coupal. He spent his childhood in upstate New York, graduating from Eastwood High School in Syracuse in 1945. He started college at Cornell University, but after a year decided to volunteer for the Army Corps of Engineers. Prior to joining the military, Frank met the love of his life, Joyce Reynolds. They maintained a long-distance letter writing relationship during his time in the Army at an airbase in Nome, Alaska, and as a drafting instructor at Ft. Belvoir, Va. After the military, he married his sweetheart in 1951. Frank's mother and Joyce's aunt were good friends so there was long-running joke about this being an "arranged" marriage.

He resumed his college education at Montana School of Mines (now Montana Tech), getting a BS in geological engineering in 1953, then a Masters in Geological Engineering at the University of Michigan in 1954. After graduation, Frank took a job with Shell Oil Company as a production geologist. Shell would move Frank and Joyce over 10 times, from Michigan to Kansas to Montana to Texas to New Mexico and back to Texas in the 29 years he spent with Shell Oil Company. Along the way, they had five children, 4 boys and 1 girl.

Frank developed a lifelong passion for rocks. He became a "rockhound" through-and-through, with a garage full of rock cutting and polishing equipment and taking his family on rock-hunting trips and to gem shows. Rock collecting and polishing remained a hobby throughout his life. He created many beautiful agate pendants, bolo ties, and other jewelry. He obtained oil well core samples from his work with Shell and cut and polished those into lamps, paperweights and name plates. Many Shell executives had nameplates and paper weights made by Frank. All polished rocks were carefully documented on the underside with the type and estimated age of the rock, and the location and depth where it was extracted.

Frank fell in love with Montana mountains after passing through by train on his way to Army basic training. In 1971 he bought 120 acres on Blue Creek near Heron where the family would spend summer vacations. When offered early retirement from Shell in 1983, he jumped at the opportunity and moved to northwestern Montana. He bought an additional 30 acres near Noxon where they built a cabin and a larger house. Frank continued his rock hobby in Montana, while developing a passion for forest management and weather monitoring. His goal with the forest was to maximize the health of the trees, in hopes of returning it to an "old growth" forest, placing both properties under conservation easements. He kept detailed weather records for his entire 32 years at the Noxon property, sending in monthly summaries to local papers, as well as collecting numbers and plotting trends for other nearby reporting stations.

Frank and Joyce were not ones to stay at home during retirement. They became involved in their local community, volunteering at their church, senior citizens center and community services. They were active in a local square-dance group and musical groups. Their guest cabin was often used by visiting artists and performers. In 1997, they were recognized as senior citizen volunteers of the year by the state of Montana.

Frank was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and by his spouse and best friend for over 65 years, Joyce Coupal. He is survived by son, Edward Coupal of Auburn, Wash., son Roger Coupal (Christiane Dechert) of Laramie, Wyo., son David (Jo Ann) of Noxon, daughter Carole Thorell (Lenny) of Sandpoint, Idaho, son Jim Coupal (Melissa) of Austin, Texas, and 10 very dear grandchildren.

The family expresses our heartfelt thanks for the care at Valley Vista nursing home and Alpine Vista apartments.

Memorial donations may be made to Noxon United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 184, Noxon, MT 59853 or to Montana Tech.

Lakeview Funeral Home in Sandpoint is handling the arrangements. Please visit Frank's online memorial at ww.lakeviewfuneral.com and sign his guest book.