Ronald 'Ornery' James Barkl, 69

Ronald "Ornery" James Barkl ("Mayor" of the Holiday Gas Station on Prairie and Highway 95), 69, of Careywood, died Sept. 21, 2011, doing what he loved, working on trucks in Hayden.

He was born during the heat of World War II on March 7, 1942, in Yankton, S.D., to a large Czech farm family, where he famously began his lifelong career as a mechanic by rebuilding a tractor engine at the tender age of 9.

He served in the Air Force as a crew chief to his favorite airplane, the C-130, during Vietnam. After that he traveled around and later married his spouse, Christine Barkl, and is survived by his oldest son, Troy, and his two daughters: Jessica and Christin, respectively.

The family settled in North Idaho, shortly after the birth of their first daughter and Ron worked with Union Pacific Railroad in Spokane until it was deregulated in the ‘80s. He then went on to work for himself and was famous for his 19-foot work van. He loved to bother his daughters about getting their oil changed and watching his son play baseball or softball. In addition, to all of this he was an avid Yankees fan, since 1952, and finally saw them play at the "original" Yankees stadium in 2006.

In 2009, he walked his youngest daughter down the aisle to become Mrs. Ryan Cantlon. He loved animals and working on his property in Careywood, he loved his ‘68 British-racing-green SS Camaro 396, he loved Chinese food at Hayden's Pau Pau's and more than anything he loved his family.

He is also survived by three brothers, Harold, Alden and Bill; and five sisters, Lillian, Sylvia, Wilma, Lovella and Emily. He was also the surrogate "Dad" to Davey Davis and Paul MacGovern, and doted on Paul's children.

He lived a very full life, but he is severely missed and the hole he has left will never be filled.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011, at English Funeral Chapels & Crematory, 1133 N. Fourth St., Coeur d'Alene. Please visit Ron's online memorial at www.englishfuneralchapel.com.