Gary Grant Sylte, 81

Gary Grant Sylte, age 81, of Belmont, Idaho, died Oct. 11, 2024, at the Post Falls Veterans Home, surrounded by amazing staff, friends and family after suffering a stroke and a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was born May 29, 1943, at the Farragut Navel Training Station near Bayview, Idaho, to Vernon and Alice (Howell) Sylte. He graduated from Lakeland High School in 1962, which was the first graduating class after Rathdrum and Spirit Lake High Schools combined. He met his bride of 60 years, Janet Lynn Sylte, of Bayview, Idaho, during the fall of 1961, who was from the “rivalry school” of Spirit Lake. They were married before Gary joined the Navy in 1962. He served as a Seabee for four years, mostly in Okinawa, Japan, and Vietnam, and received a Purple Heart for being wounded while defending his battalion in 1966.  

Gary and Jan lived in Dalton Gardens and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, until 1978, when they moved to their beloved 82-acre ranch in Belmont, on the northern slope of Cedar Mountain, near Athol and Bayview. Jan and Gary raised two children, Troy and Traci Sylte, whom Gary called “his heroes.” He worked as a deputy sheriff for about one year before joining the USDA Forest Service, where he served Americans for 30 years as a civil engineering technician performing a myriad of forest and road management duties. He spoke often in high regard of his many revered Forest Service work colleagues and his love of working in the woods. He was known for his road survey and location skills, where he conducted several special assignments locating the access roads into the large Bonneville Power Line that transects northern Idaho and Western Montana.

Gary had many passions and loved sports and connecting with people. He played football, basketball and baseball in high school and was the battalion champion in racquetball in Vietnam, where stories are told that off-duty officers would try to beat him. While living in Dalton Gardens, he received multiple awards in “Hi-Gun Press” trap shoots (1972 and 1974), Slow-break basketball (1974 and 1977), Coeur d’Alene Bowman Barebow (1972, 1976, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1994) and Hayden Lake Record for a Northern Pike on March 7, 1999. He coached peewee baseball and multiple years of girls youth basketball in off-season league play. He and Jan were very active in the Kootenai County Saddle Club for over a decade, and they owned/operated the Couer d’Alene River Big Game Outfitters for 26 years. Gary was awarded “board member with outstanding efforts” by the Coeur d’Alene Snowmobile Club, 1999-2000.

Gary loved Gonzaga basketball. He was an early riser, always up before sunrise, singing “dee, dee, dee” down the hall before meeting his beloved friends for morning coffee at the Owl Café in Hayden, then later Super One in Athol when the Owl closed. He loved his mules, Radar, Jenny and BJ, who packed many an elk out of the woods. He also ran “Mountain View Ranch Trail Rides” for almost a decade, where he guided numerous horseback rides for local tourists, taking them on trails he had made above their ranch and telling many a story. Mostly, he cherished his wife and kids, whom many stories have been shared of hunting and fishing, and ties to ranch and nature.

Autumn was Gary’s favorite season, bringing golden leaves of fall, crisp cold days, and an elk bugling up the crick — it is fitting that he left us in the fall for better hunting grounds. He was preceded in death by his parents, Vernon and Alice (Howell) Sylte. He is survived by his wife, Jan (Krakenberg) Sylte; his son, Troy Sylte (Tamatha); and grandchildren Reed Sylte, Tavin and Ella Robles; daughter Traci Sylte and grandchild Becca Sylte-Riggers; his sister, Linda (Gary Retter) Yates; nephew Eli Yates; and numerous cousins.  

The visitation will be Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Hayden Bible Church (290 E. Miles Ave. Hayden, ID 83835), followed by a funeral service beginning at 11 a.m. There will be a reception after the service at the church, then a military honors burial at Pinegrove Cemetery (6693 SH-53 Rathdrum, ID 83858). 

The family would like to thank the staff at Generations Memory Care Home, Pacifica Senior Living Home and the Post Falls Veterans Home for all their dedication and care these past almost two years.

Honoring Gary’s love of nature, animals and elk hunting, memorial contributions in Gary’s name may be made to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (rmef.org), and/or Companions Animal Center, (P.O. Box 1005 Hayden, ID 83835).

Please visit Gary’s online memorial and sign his guestbook at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.