August "Gus"'s Obituary
August “Gus” Author Habets began his journey to Heaven on February 27, 2023, at 93 years old. Cremation has taken place at Schnider Funeral Home. Gus’s celebration of life will be on March 18, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. at the Hillcrest Lawn Memorial Chapel.
Gus was born on August 7, 1929, in Conrad, Montana to August and Evona (Christianens) Habets. He spent 1st through 3rd grade at the St Thomas Orphans home in Great Falls and had many stories about his experience there.
Throughout Gus’s life he had several jobs that he loved, including farming, logging, and owning service stations in Valier, Missoula, and Lincoln. His final job was working at Tire Rama delivering tires to rural areas. During retirement Gus started “Gus’s Recycled Woodcrafts” where his love for wood products began.
Dad loved to travel and he took several trips to Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and the Oregon Coast. His hobbies included wood working, making bird houses, playing pool, bowling, going to rummage sales looking for new treasures, and of course supporting his Washington Redskins.
Dad instilled a hard work ethic into all of his kids. His favorite line was “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.” Weekends were spent camping, snowmobiling, playing cards, and picking up aluminum cans off the highway followed by pizza at Howard’s.
Gus is survived by his wife, Pat Habets; his 10 children, Doug Habets of Alaska , Dick Habets of Valier, Roz (Mike) Hayes of Essex, MT, Lorraine (Raliegh) King of Browning, MT, Jeff Brown of Kalispell, MT, Marj (Fred) Ray of Lincoln, MT, Roger Habets of Spokane, WA, Sherry (Tom) Stearns of Great Falls, MT, Mike (Billie) Brown of Lincoln, MT, and Scott (Amy Brown) of Great Falls; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and 5 sisters, Florence Murray of Shelby, MT, Mary Ann (Dale) Arnst of Big Fork, MT, Liz Mavity of Missoula, MT, Sande (Ted) Olson of Great Falls, and Helen Stoltz of Victor. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Carol; his mother and father; and many lifelong friends.
Dad’s life was an extraordinary example of love and family. He was the example of a life well-lived that will forever be in the minds and hearts to all who knew him.
