Karl Thomas Dooks

Karl Thomas Dooks was born on March 21, 1937 to Karl Francis and Pearl (Kohl) Dooks in Billings. He was their fourth child. He had three older sisters and three younger sisters. He attended Broadwater, McKinley Grade schools, Lincoln Junior High, and graduated Senior High in 1956. He dropped out of high school in 1954 and came back to school in 1955.After high school, he enlisted in the Army. He became a communications specialist later avonics. He was in Forts Gordon, Wachutka, and stationed in Seoul, South Korea. In 1959, he married Emelda Katherine La Motte,of South Saint Paul, MN. They had met on a passenger train from Glendive to Saint Paul. Karl and Emelda had one son, Patrick Thomas Dooks, born in 1960. Karl re-joined the Army in 1961 as he had a hard time finding good work in the early 1960's. Karl and family were stationed at Fort Hood in 1963, in Boblingen, West Germany 1965-1967, Fort Knox 1967-1968, Vietnam 1968-1969, Hunter Air Field, Savannah,GA 1969, Nellingen, West Germany 1969-1971, Vietnam, 1971-1972, Fort Lewis 1972-1973. Karl left the Army as the reduction in force was going to happen. He went to work for the US Postal Serice later in 1973 and stayed there until retiring in 1992. He then went to work various other jobs, two of which he enjoyed. One, he was one of the security team for the "Lonesome Dove" sequel, where he met and talked to both Jon Voight and Lou Gossett,JR. The other was working as a contract deliver driver of the US Mail for John Elvestrom. After working for John for about five years, Karl was having back pain. So, he had his back fused and that was the end of his working.

Karl was a sports enthuasist. He enjoyed playing pool, bowling (he was on a winning local team), table tennis (from his time in the Army), Kegling (his suborbinate in Germany in 1965 married a German woman and her brother Josef became a friend and Josef invited Karl to play nine-pin bowling). Later, Karl took golf semi-seriously. He had been a caddy at HiLands in the late 1940's. He was known member of Pryor Creek, and would start playing at the crack of dawn and to stop at a little after dusk during the summer. Karl also played youth baseball until age 14. Later in life, he would watch bowling and football in 1970's. In the 1980's and later, it was strickly golf and the Denver Broncos football.

Karl bought his house in early 1975 and was still living their until around his 88th birthday this year. Karl loved carpentry and had made his family's kitchen table, a table tennis table, a record rack for his son, and two end tables for his son. Also, he made his own Christmas decorations, earning a honorable mention by the Billings Gazette in the 1980's.

Karl always had a wanderlust. When he and his family were in Germany, they visited France, Belguim, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Monaco and Lichtenstein. Karl and Emelda saw every continental US State, and seven Canadian Provinces. Karl had also been in Australia, Japan, and Hawai'i as either rest and recreation or transfer point in the Army. The only state Karl didn't see was Alaska.

Karl was preceded in death by his parents, Pearl in 1960, Karl Francis 1987, his wife, Emelda, in 2012, and sisters Barbara Dooks Hogan, and Marlene Dooks Sasich Gehlhausen. He is survived by his son, Patrick, sisters Donna Brummett, Sharon Dooks Stauffer Bush(Clyde JR), Karla Dooks Leach(Harley), and Sandra Dooks Thompson(Larry). He is also survived by 41 nephews and nieces. May you rest in peace and may the angels carry you to the bosom of our Lord.