Joseph Stephen Podobnik

On Tuesday, June 30, 2026, Joseph S. Podobnik passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body dementia. This cruel disease afflicts so many and despite sincere efforts from many world renowned personalities and researchers, no cure has yet been found. Joe experienced the worst effects and spent the last five years of his life unable to care for himself. Thankfully, he found an excellent care-giving staff at the Anaconda Nursing Home. Our family is thankful for their professionalism, but more importantly, their personal relationship with Joe. They made his last years the best that they could be. 

Joe was born on April 27, 1951, three days before his father passed away. But he was never without the influence of a father figure. His uncles, Edward (“Sport”), Bill, and Frank Podobnik instilled in him a deep affection for some of the things that make Montana such a special place. Joe was a skier, a snowmobiler, a fisherman, and a hunter. But mostly, he just liked being out in the mountains, on the rivers and creeks, and playing in the snow.

He attended Montana State University where he majored in skiing. He soon discovered that academics was not to his liking, so he and his best friend, Steve Lane, enrolled in the Hobart School of Welding in Ohio. He soon found employment with the Anaconda Company, shortly before the shutdown of the smelter in Anaconda. But very soon thereafter, he was hired by AFFCO Foundry as a boilermaker, a welder and a crane operator. After many years with AFFCO, Joe retired in 2012, leaving him more time to care for his horses and mule. It was amazing to see how easily he interacted with his “pets”.

Joe was not a world shaker. But he was genuine, compassionate, and generous. We often heard “Joe is a really nice guy”. And he was. A soft spoken big man, he loved his family and friends in a way that was never spoken but always shown by his willingness to help, to celebrate, and to grieve.

He is survived by his sister and caregiver, Deborah Kunkle, brother John and partner Maria Murray, brothers-in-law Fred Peterson and Mike Kunkle, several nephews, nieces, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his father John, His mother Florence (Holmlund) Kasky, sister Joan Peterson, niece Erika (Podobnik) Gomer, and nephew, Chuck Peterson.

At his request, there will be no service. His family will have a celebration of life and a scattering of his ashes in a place he loved.

Any memorials may be made to the Anaconda Nursing Home, Anaconda Hospice, or donors choice.

Longfellow Finnegan Riddle Funeral Home is privileged to care for Joe and his family.