Arthur Paul Brackebusch

Matthew 25:23: His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

Arthur Paul Brackebusch 99, of Missoula, went to meet his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on March 6, 2026.

Art was born on September 23, 1926 in Canistota, SD, to Fred and Frieda (Salomon) Brackebusch, a first generation American on his father’s side, second on his mother’s.  In 1930 his family moved to the rural area north of Bonners Ferry, ID.  They purchased a timbered plot of land and cleared it to make farm land, using the timber to build their home and out buildings. Growing up as the second oldest of six boys, Art learned the value of hard work.  At the age of 12 after performing his own chores on the family farm he worked at neighboring farms for $1 a day.  The money he earned went into the family coffers.  When he turned 15 he took a job with the US Forest Service doing general trail work, telephone line work, and even some firefighting work. It was at this time that he set a goal to someday work in fire research.

Art graduated from Bonners Ferry high school in 1944.  He (and each of his five brothers) won the distinguished Bausch & Lomb Science Award. Upon graduation he enlisted into the US Navy, but failed his physical when it was discovered that he had rheumatic fever. Unable to join the Navy, he recuperated at the family farm and then in the fall of 1945 he set off for Moscow, ID where he worked to put himself through college earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry in 1949. Upon completion of college he enlisted in the US Air Force as a Second Lieutenant. He received his papers, but before he could leave, the Bonners Ferry Draft Board informed him that he would be drafted into the US Army as a buck private.  When the Army discovered his Forest Service photo mapping experience, they pulled him out and put him in the 64th Engineer Base Topographic Battalion. In July of 1951 he shipped off to Tokyo, Japan where he served as a supervisor charting and making maps of Korea for the US Army. Upon his discharge in 1952 he returned to the family farm in Bonners Ferry.

In 1953 Art moved to Missoula for a job with the Lolo National Forest doing road design.  It was during this time that he met Arlene Hollinger, a student at the University of Montana, also working for the Lolo National Forest.  They were married on November 27, 1955.  Art worked in Drummond, MT for Tree Farmers Inc. When the company closed down their operations, he moved to Thompson Falls and took a job with the Thompson Falls Lumber Co.  He and Arlene welcomed their eldest daughter Lynn in 1957.

In 1959 Art and Arlene made their final move to Missoula where Art was hired by the USFS in Fire Research.  This was his dream job. A goal he had set 18 years previously in 1941 when he got his first taste of working on wildland fires. In 1960 he and Arlene welcomed their second daughter Beth. Over the next years, Art worked as a Project Scientist, Project Leader, and in 1964 he was named the Chief of the Northern Forest Fire Research Laboratory. In 1965, Art and Arlene welcomed their third and youngest daughter, Karen. During his 13 years as Chief, the Fire Lab would host scientists from all over the world—Russia, Germany, South America, and Australia. Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and radio personality Paul Harvey were among dignitaries that visited during Art’s leadership. All came to see the cutting edge research that was being done in the area of fire research in Missoula, Montana.  Art retired from the USFS in 1979. In retirement, he accepted a job at North Idaho College in Coeur d’ Alene, ID heading their Forestry Tech Program. He taught and mentored his forestry students for two years. He then returned to the woods he loved. Art bid thinning jobs for the USFS and would rise in the morning and venture out with his daughter Karen, a sack lunch and the family dog, Cricket to spend long days in the forest, working to improve the health and welfare of the woods.

Art was a longtime member of the Missoula Exchange Club, the Western Forestry Association, the Intermountain Fire Research Council, the U of M Forestry School board of advisors, and the Grizzly Athletic Association.  Art’s service on the board for Missoula General Hospital included the planning and building of the Clark Fork Riverside Retirement Home. He advocated with the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce to utilize Missoula’s river frontage and highlight it as our “front” instead of using it as our “back.” In 2018, Art, along with his grandson Owen, attended the National Rifle Association’s National Convention in Dallas, TX. While there, Art was presented with the NRA’s Award for the oldest life member in attendance. Over the years he served for many years and in countless positions at First Lutheran Church. At the time of his death he was the longest living member of the congregation.  His greatest service to the church included three terms (12 years) on the Board for Higher Education for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  Art served as a member and ultimately as Chairman, overseeing the budgets, curriculum, appointments, and accreditation requirements for 16 colleges throughout the United States and Canada. As a final recognition by the church he was named Regent at Christ College Irvine, CA where he served for an additional six years.

Art was an avid hunter, fisherman, and builder/designer.  He designed and built a majority of the family home in Miller Creek.  He designed and built the first family cabin on Bull Lake. In his eighties, he designed and oversaw the remodel on this same cabin.  He even built a barn for his daughters’ horses and proudly displayed his 5B brand.  He enjoyed boating and spent countless hours driving the boat at Bull Lake to the enjoyment of his skiing, tubing, and knee boarding wife, daughters, and grandsons. He was a dedicated Green Bay Packer fan visiting Lambeau field for his 90th birthday.  Always a #1 fan of the Montana Grizzlies he attended football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, and even some track meets.  Art was a lifelong learner. When the computer first came out, he purchased one and read the manual teaching himself how to operate and navigate it. He loved taking online classes and always set goals for himself to learn something new.  He studied World History, Anatomy, Calculus, and as late as 2022 enrolled in an online course on Thermal Dynamics.

Art is survived by his wife Arlene, brothers Fred and Harold (Barbara), daughters Lynn (Michael), Beth (Dave), Karen (Greg), grandsons Owen (Kaleigh), Derek (Sonia), Dylan (Mary), and Kurt, great-grandchildren, Jack and Isabelle, Arlo and Vera , Reagan, Lucy and Piper, and numerous nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, and great-great nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Frieda Brackebusch, brothers Carl, Leonard and Albert.

Funeral services and the celebration of Art’s life with be held Friday, March 20, 2026 at 11:00 am at First Lutheran Church 2808 South Ave West, Missoula, MT.  Cremation services will be handled by Just Cremation.  For a full obituary visit justcremationmt.com

In lieu of flowers, donations and memorials can be made to Saint Labre Indian School Ashland, MT (www.stlabre.org) or Saint Jude Children’s Hospital (www.stjude.org).