Michael A Calene

Rest in Peace, Michael Allen Calene.  Mike passed away November 9, 2024 at Gritman Hospital in Moscow.

Michael Allen Calene was born on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a few hours after Pearl Harbor was bombed, prompting the United States to enter World War II. He was the tenth child and fourth son of John B. and Hilma (Swanson) Calene. Mike was the first of Hilma's children to be born at Gritman Memorial Hospital in Moscow, Idaho. The others had been born at home.

Mike grew up surrounded by siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. The family lived at Nora, outside Troy, Idaho, on the Swanson homestead. They later moved to the Johnson place, and then to a farm his brother Kenneth bought and later sold to their brother Willis. It had electricity, but not indoor plumbing. Mike remembered when they got their first refrigerator and his sisters made popsicles. When Mike was old enough, he hauled water in a tank from the björnskälla (bear spring). It was kept in a barrel by the back door, with a sheet over it to keep out the bugs. Mike liked living in the country, with fishing and hunting nearby. His brother Willis gave him a BB gun for Christmas one year. When he was little, he tied rope to the bed frame and pretended to be riding a horse. When he got bigger, he rode real horses, as well as steers. He also rode the bus to school, but he never liked being in school. He would look out the window at the sunshine and wish he was out in it.

One evening in early 1958 a fire started in the upstairs of their house because of sparks from the chimney. A salesman had come around selling glass balls filled with fire retardant, and his mom had bought some. They threw the balls up at the fire, but it didn't do anything, so Mike went to the neighbors to call the fire department and the others quickly began moving furniture from the downstairs outdoors. The boys carried out their mother's cabinet of salt-and-pepper shakers.

After that the family moved into Troy, where they were happy to have running water for the first time. Mike was in High School at the time. Being in town made it easier to run around with his buddies and get into mischief. On Halloween, they would steal outhouses and line them up down the middle of Main Street.

Mike's dislike of school continued to grow and he decided to quit High School. He and a friend moved to Elk River where they went to work in the shake mill owned by his sister Norma and brother-in-law Bob.  (The friend would later participate in the great Troy bank robbery.)  Mike and his sister Mary and a friend decided to join the Army, so they took the bus to Spokane to sign up. Mike failed the physical because of a congenital heart defect that had been undetected before that. So like his dad, brothers, and uncles, Mike went to work in the woods logging.

Mike met and married Patti Carlson Kibbee in 1970 and became the father of Melvin and Tracy. The family expanded with the births of sons Michael and Tim. They lived in Lewiston and Moscow before moving to Troy in 1973. They eventually bought property on McKeehan Road and moved there. Later they would put a manufactured home at the top of the hill on the property.

Their four children grew up, got married, and gave them their beloved grandchildren. Tracy and her husband Mark presented them with Ashley and Hayden, and Hayden gave them great-granddaughters Kyleigh, Blakely and great- grandson Landon . Melvin and his wife Cindy had four children, Nathan, Olivia, Hannah, and Elise. Nathan gave them great-granddaughter Miabella, and Olivia gave them great-granddaughters Olive and Penelope. Tim and his wife Shel-lee brought them Krystina, Riley, Arianna, Makayla, and Makenzie. Michael and Sandra and granddaughters Vera, Allison and grandson Cris and finally bonus daughter Michelle, grand kids, Nathan, Jonnie, September, and Maddie. It is obvious, seeing photos of Mike with his grandchildren, that they were his pride and joy.

As Mike got older, he had trouble with his heart and by 2013 he had to quit working because of an aneurysm. In 2019 he had bypass surgery. His health issues increased with age and he battled dementia. On Saturday, November 9, 2024, he passed from this life at Gritman Memorial Hospital in Moscow, the same place where he was born.

Mike was predeceased by his wife Patti in June of this year; their son Tim; his parents JB and Hilma Calene; and his siblings Lucile, Willis, Kenneth, Vivien, Evelyn, Norma, Louise, Pete, and Faye. He is survived by his children, Melvin, Tracy, and Michael; his grandchildren; his siblings Mary Anne Lund and Larry Calene; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

May his memory be a blessing.

We will have a Celebration of life at a later date.