Alfred Mackay

Funeral Services for Alfred Joseph Mackay, 83, of Baker will be 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at the Lakeview Baptist Church in Baker, MT with Pastor Sheldon Sorenson officiating. Burial will follow at Lame Jones Cemetery southwest of Baker.


Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 28, 2006 at Stevenson Funeral Home in Baker with a Prayer Service held at 7:00 p.m.


Al passed away peacefully at the Fallon Medical Complex on Thanksgiving day, November 23rd, 2006.


Alfred Joseph Mackay, son of William and Marie (Honstain) Mackay, was born May 5, 1923, on Lame Jones Creek at his parents’ homestead. He attended Red Hills and Gregerson Schools, until the 6th grade, when he started school in Baker. He graduated from Baker High School in 1941, and moved to Los Angeles, California, to find a job. He worked for Douglas Aircraft until 1942 when he joined the Army Air Corp. He was stationed in England with the 8th Air Force until 1946. After receiving an honorable discharge, he returned to Baker. On November 30, 1946, he married Alice Cunningham. In 1947 they moved to Bozeman where they had a trucking business. They had two children, Bill (1947) and Shelley (1952). He returned home in 1954 and worked on his parents’ ranch. In 1964 he and his family moved to southern California and again went to work for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft. He loved his job, and worked for 29 years until his retirement, only missing one day of work. In 1995 he moved back to the Willard Community to live with his sister, Babe, and his daughter and her husband on Old Lame Jones Creek for the remainder of his life.


He liked anything mechanical and enjoyed to see what made them “tick”, but especially loved airplanes and working on old cars and farm machinery. One of his greatest joys was being in his John Deere swather cutting hay that was so thick he couldn’t see the cutterbar. He enjoyed people and if you ever stopped by for a visit he would take the cards out for a good game. His other hobbies included reading, fishing, and his dogs.

He was a generous, honest man and a “team player”. He was a lifetime member of the American Legion Post 35, member of the Lastman’s Club, member of the 447th Bomb Group, a member of the Red Butte Cooperative State Grazing District and an officer in the UAW. He loved his family and was especially proud of his four granddaughters, Mary, Linda, Jessie, and Angie; and two grandsons, Joe Brandon.


He will be forever missed by his wife Alice; his son, Bill (Emma) of El Paso Texas; his daughter Shelley (Barney) Dean of Willard; four granddaughters, Mary of Houston, Texas, and Linda (Jay) Rost of Willard; Jessie Dinardi of Baker; Angie Dean of Baker; one grandson, Brandon (Betty) Dean of Baker; three sisters, Mary (Babe) Billingsley of Willard, Nellie Rost of Marmarth, and Anna Mae (Pete) Wang of Ollie; and numerous nieces and nephews, especially Johnny Mackay of Cypress, CA.


He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Arthur “Bud” Mackay, sister Ella Schultz, and his grandson, Joseph Luis Mackay.


Burial Date: November 29, 2006
Funeral Home Baker, MT
Church Lakeview Baptist Church