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Jon Joseph Driessen, 79

Jon Joseph Driessen, 79, died peacefully at home March 29, 2019, surrounded by his loving family. Born in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to Joseph (“Joe”) and Verna Driessen, Jon was a product of the Great American Dream. From his father, a carpenter, and his mother, a schoolteacher, Jon believed in hard work and education to get ahead in life. From those Coeur d’Alene (CDA) roots of family and lifelong friendships, Jon cultivated a love for people, the outdoors and sharing of stories.

Growing up in Coeur d’Alene, he spent time swimming in the lake, hunting the mountains, fishing in the creeks, playing sports with his friends and caddying at the Hayden Lake Country Club for the likes of Bing and Bob Crosby. He lettered in baseball and football and spent two summers working as a dishwasher at West Glacier, Mont. During his senior year, Jon met sophomore Karen Chestnutt at a Halloween dance. Their first date kindled a rare and remarkable 63-year journey of friendship, marriage and family. According to Jon, it was Karen who sparked and inspired Jon’s intellectual professional life.

After high school graduation in 1957, Jon earned his B.A. in sociology in 1961 from Eastern Washington State College (EWU) and a commission in the U.S. Army. Jon and Karen married two months later and embarked on two years of service in the Army Medical Service Corps stationed in San Antonio, Texas, and Fort Riley, Kan. Their daughter, Renee, was born three months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, as Jon’s unit was loaded on boxcars ready to be the first medical battalion sent to Cuba. Thankfully nothing came to pass.

In 1963, Jon was honorably discharged from the Army as a first lieutenant, whereupon he earned an M.A. in sociology from Montana State University in 1965 and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Colorado in 1968. By then Karen had completed her B.A. at Montana, an M.A. at Denver University, and together they had added their son, Eric, to the family.

Jon joined the University of Montana in January of 1969 as assistant director of the Institute for Social Science Research and as a member of the Department of Sociology. Later, he became an adjunct professor of linguistics and a faculty affiliate with the Missoula Technology and Development Center of the United States Forest Service. After 32 years of service to UM, Jon retired as sociology/linguistics professor emeritus.

Jon’s career focus was qualitative sociology. His research was varied but always exemplified the best of both practical and theoretical work. For 10 years Jon was editor of the International Sociological Association’s Sociolinguistics Newsletter, and in conjunction, presented research papers in Uppsala, Sweden; Kassel, Germany and Mexico City. His research projects ranged from a major study of the Western Montana Catholic Diocese after Vatican II to consulting for Cascade Airways, and a long series of projects with the U.S. Forest Service spanning nearly 30 years. Contributions to the Forest Service focused on safety and occupational health projects, including wildland fire fighting. He received two national awards for developing training materials based on his ethnographic studies of Forest Service work culture.

Although his professional life filled much of his time, Jon’s personal interests included golfing, fishing and hunting. After many years of a shared family home in Coeur d’Alene on the Spokane River, Jon was able to fulfill his longtime dream for a retreat in St. Regis, Mont., where he hunted and fished. Upon retirement, Jon and Karen built their bunkhouse on the banks of the Clark Fork River.

Jon is survived by his wife, Karen; daughter, Renee Driessen (Randy Fuhrmann); son, Eric (Eddi) Driessen; granddaughter, Rose Hedrick; grandson, Randall (Lizzi) Jex; great-grandsons, Kaleo and Kai Jex; sister, Katherine L. Ulbricht; nephew, Michael Ulbricht; niece, Heidi Ulbricht (Brad Wright) and their children, Molly and Ben; brother-in-law, Mark M. (Jeanie) Chestnutt and children, Steven and Kurt; and great-nieces and nephews. Preceding him in death are his parents, Joe and Verna Driessen; brother-in-law, Roger Ulbricht; sister-in-law, Shirley Chestnutt and nephew, Scott Chestnutt.

Jon believed his memory would live on through his family, friends, students and their shared stories. Because of his own love of stories and people, Jon became the glue for many diverse relationships. His stories were often humor-based and he loved to play with words, tell stories and laugh. Though his health was compromised in the last five years by back surgeries, stroke and the final Myelofibrosis diagnosis, he never lost his humor. He believed he had a good life.

A celebration of life and reception will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 6, 2019, at Garden City Funeral Home, in Missoula. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to Montana Public Radio, Montana PBS, the Clark Fork Coalition or The University of Montana in support of scholarships.