On the evening of August 11, 2015, John Alvin Toavs passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home north of Wolf Point, Montana. He is survived by his wife Irene, 4 children, Kay (Travis) Lovelace, Cheryl (Joe) Ryan , Johnny (Patricia) Toavs , and Cathy (Doug) Madison, 13 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren, and one sister, Lilly Baker.
John was born on the 13 th day of September 1925 the 13 th child of 15 children , 1925 to Abraham and Maria Toavs. He was raised on the homestead 14 miles north of Wolf Point. He attended Wide Awake Country School for 8 years and graduated from Wolf Point High School in 1943. He joined the service during WWII. On his way overseas to Japan, the war ended and he spent his military service in Hawaii.
He returned home and married the love of his life, Irene (Rensvold), who loved him from the time she was 6 years old when she first saw him at the wedding of her brother and his sister. They were married and moved two miles east of his childhood home where they farmed and ranched together for 68 years. During their time together John and Irene truly enjoyed an active and full life.
He was an avid reader and also served on the County Library Board for many years. He had a passion for reading almost anything he could get his hands on from mystery novels to westerns and periodicals including Popular Science and Popular Mechanics. His reading always kept him on the cutting edge of modern technologies and innovations. The joys of his life were his home, family, friends, horses, a dance shared with his wife, and any cup of coffee. You rarely ever saw him without his cowboy hat.
As John was born the 13 th child on the 13 th of September and had 13 grandchildren of which, his first grandchild shares his birthday of September 13 th , you could say 13 was a lucky number for him.
Funeral services will be held at First Lutheran Church on Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 2:00 PM at 415 Johnson Street in Wolf Point. In lieu of flowers the family has requested that memorials be given to the First Lutheran Church “Raise the Roof Fund.”