Our father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, took his final nap on Wednesday morning on February 25, 2026. He was 95 years old. He had his spring haircut, and he was wearing his blue jeans, work boots, his canvas Carhart jacket, and his red ballcap. He was ready to leave.
Patrick Arthur McAllister was born in Belt, Montana, on February 16, 1931, to Patrick and Mildred Madden McAllister. Pat grew up in Geyser, Montana, working on many ranches in the area and graduated from Geyser High School in 1949. Pat joined the Navy and spent a year working on the naval vessel USS Pine Island. He married Ruth Lyola Crawford on June 5, 1952. They would be married for the next 66 years until Ruth’s death in 2018. They raised 3 children, Colleen, Terry, and Lonnie.
Pat enjoyed night fishing and working on his cabin he shared with his partner and long-time friend, Ken Jacobsen, at Holter Lake. Patrick’s daily focus and hobby was accumulating apartment buildings; he built two 8-plexs in the 70’s. Patrick was a carpenter by trade and was very proud of the fact he worked on many of the buildings on 10th Avenue South, on the Montgomery Wards store in Holiday Village, and the Milwaukee Station when it was restored in the 1960’s. Pat was the Business Agent for the Carpenter’s Union in the 80’s and 90’s. He held that job for 20 years until his retirement.
Pat was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth; and son, Terry, who passed away in 1973. He leaves a son, Lonnie McAllister; and daughter, Colleen (Brian) Way. Pat also had four grandchildren he adored, Ryan Busta of Seattle, Washington, Jesse (Amanda) McAllister of Billings, Montana, Dori (Tyler) McDonald of San Antonio, Texas, and Janell (Brandon) Brown of Henderson, Nevada. His great-grandchildren were Braylon and Paxton Brown, and Avery and Isaac McDonald.
Grandpa and his stories will truly be missed. He loved the song, “I Did It My Way” which he liked to sing and that’s what he lived by.
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