John Kenneth Finstad

 John Kenneth Finstad passed away unexpectedly on July 24, 2026. Ken was born December 7, 1933 to Oscar and Margit Finstad in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Ken grew up on a farm and ranch by the Milk River which was started in 1909 by his grandfather who came from Hibbing, Minnesota to southern Alberta.

Ken began his education in a one room country school. The Jensen School was located two miles from the ranch. Ken always talked about following his brother Len’s footsteps in the snow, making walking easier. He attended Jensen for six years until the school shut down. He then completed two years of school by correspondence. For grade 9 he boarded with a family in the nearby town of Orion. Grades 10 and 11 he and his brother Len rented a small house and they lived together in the town of Foremost. To finish high school, Ken moved to Calgary, where he lived at the local YMCA, and he graduated from Crescent Heights High School.

After graduation, Ken and several friends planned to attend school in Moscow, Idaho, where he intended to study geological engineering. A cousin in Great Falls called to tell him that the same program was offered at the Montana School of Mines in Butte, Montana. Since he had already been accepted in Moscow, Ken opted to set out for Idaho. There were two routes, and after looking at the map, he decided to go south instead of west and check out Butte.

When he got to Butte, he drove up East Park Street, stopped, and took a look around. He got back in his car intending to continue on to Missoula and then Moscow. But as he drove Park Street, he missed the turn at Park and Excelsior accidently ending up on the Montana School of Mines campus. He was making a U-turn around the Marcus Daly statue when he heard someone call his name. It was a friend he had played hockey with in Calgary. The friend asked where he was headed, and Ken replied he was headed to Moscow, Idaho. His friend said, “Stay here. They have a hockey team!” That was all it took. That wrong turn, and a hockey team, changed everything.

Ken then enrolled at the Montana School of Mines in Butte, Montana, attending for two years. While at the School of Mines he met the love of his life Joann “Babe” Tomich. Ken and Babe were married in Butte on September 13, 1959. Ken transferred to the University of Montana in Missoula graduating with a degree in geology.

After graduation Ken began his career with the Canadian Montana Gas Company a subsidiary of Montana Power Company. His first job was construction assistant building the Black Butte gas sweetening plant in south eastern Alberta just north of East Butte of the Sweetgrass Hills. It was here he moved his bride to a “new old company house” 50 miles from the nearest store. It was also here that Ken was involved in a pipeline explosion suffering 3 rd degree burns. Lethbridge was the nearest hospital 120 miles away. It was decided to use one of the nearby “ranch border crossings” to get to Chester, Montana 40 miles away. It was there they met Dr. Buker. Turns out Dr. Buker had specialized in burn treatments in the military. Ken made a complete recovery from those third degree burns.

Next Ken and Babe were transferred to the main production facility at Pondera, Canada. Here there were eight families living in company homes. A metropolis compared to the two company owned homes at Black Butte. Ken was a Natural Gas Engineer at the Pondera Plant for five years. During his tenure in Canada, his sons John and Todd were born.

The next move was to Cut Bank, Montana where Ken was involved in gas and oil well drilling

and completions for the Montana Power Company. For the next 15 years Ken spent much time on the road supervising drilling and completion operations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Wyoming and Montana. During this time Ken always claimed Babe was the best Dad and Mom ever to John and Todd.

After 22 years Ken parted ways with the Montana Power Company. Ken started a consulting business, in addition to launching Blue Jay Petroleum during a difficult economic period in 1982. In 1987 Ken and Ron Vanderhoef of Sheridan, Wyoming, formed KeeSun Corp, a small oil and gas production company. As it grew, it truly became a family business. Ken hired his son John, a petroleum engineer from Montana Tech, and his wife Toni, to manage the company finances. His wife, Babe, worked in the office until her retirement in 2024.

In 1997 Ken was invited to be General Manager of a Canadian Oil Company located in Tunisia, North Africa. Ken and Babe spent the next three years in Tunis with a home on the Mediterranean. His job involved travels to London, Rome, Paris and Cairo. They were able to tour the pyramids and visit the Cairo Museum to view the King Tut collection. While in Tunisia they travelled extensively to visit many Roman towns and historic sites.

After returning home, Ken and Babe rejoined the loves of their lives their grandchildren Amanda, Evan and Brynne. He and Babe spent most weekends attending their grandchildren’s activities and while the kids were growing up, hosted them for the month of July at their cabin at Elkwater Lake in Alberta. Ken always said his greatest joys in his life were his wife Babe, his sons John and Todd, but especially his grandchildren and great grandson, Everett who affectionately called him “Big Papa”.

During his career he oversaw the drilling and workover of thousands of wells across Canada, the United States and North Africa. Ken many times reflected on the mentors, colorful oilfield personalities, and lasting friendships he built throughout his 66-year oil field career. Retirement was never part of Ken’s program. He remained active, working at his desk each day directing the operations of KeeSun Corp. till his passing.

Ken was a very active member of the Cut Bank community. He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Cut Bank Elks, the Masonic Lodge, and Sons of Norway Lodge. He was also a proud Shriner active in the Tri-County Shrine for over 50 years. Raising money for the Shrine Children’s Hospital in Spokane was a special part of his life which included the Shrine Circus, the Thousand Dollar Bill dinner and chairing the annual Crab Crack dinner.

He was a member of the group that organized a site for the Glacier County Museum where he served a term as chairman of the Board of Directors. One of his proudest accomplishments was arranging moving the last steel standard drilling rig to the museum site.

Ken was blessed to have many lifelong friends, some spanning more than 60 years. He loved visiting and made them a priority, always making time for the people who mattered most to him.

Ken is survived by his wife, Joann “Babe”, brother Norman Finstad of Manyberries, Alberta, and sister Marie (Ken) Pearson of Medicine Hat, Alberta, his sons John (Toni) Finstad of Cut Bank Montana, and Todd Finstad (Basti Perduss) of Butte, Montana, grandchildren, Amanda (Quinn) Ahrens of Rhode Island, Evan (Sydney) Finstad of Belgrade, Montana, and Brynne Finstad of Belgrade, Montana, and great grandson, Everett Finstad and numerous nieces and nephews. As an unofficial adopted daughter, Ken is also survived by Dusti Davis, who spent 16 years in the KeeSun office keeping her “special guy” in line with his computer and IPhone.

The services will be held at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Cut Bank, MT on August 22, 2026 at

10:00 a.m. Reception will be held immediately following the service in the fellowship hall of St Paul Lutheran. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Shriners Children’s Hospital, Office of Philanthropy, 911 West 5 th Avenue, Spokane, Washington, 99204.