Jefferson 'J.B.' Wages

Jefferson Byron "J.B." Wages, 76, died May 30, 2006, in Bonners Ferry.

He was born Jan. 10, 1930, in Lubbock, Texas, the oldest of Adolph and Eura Wages' four sons.

He grew up on a farm and attended school in Shallowater, Texas.

Wages in 1950 joined the U.S. Navy, spending 4 years in San Diego.

He married the former Mary Jim Ashburn in 1952 and returned to Shallowater in 1954. Wages and seven farm families in 1955 moved to Bonners Ferry. In June of that year, he helped organize the First Baptist Church in Bonners Ferry.

Flooding ended Wages' farming career, and he went to work for Monk Shelman's Texaco, Kootenai Grain Elevator and K.V. Hardware before buying the Esso dealership from Dayton Douglas Les Howard in 1959. He built a tire dealership on South Hill in 1973 and became a Les Schwab dealer in the mid-1980s. Wages in 1987 started the Les Schwab store in Libby.

He is survived by his wife; a daughter, Jeannie Macdonald and her husband, Robb, of Libby; four sons, Larry Wages of El Paso, Texas, and Jay Wages and his wife, Cheryl, Adrian and his wife, Marlene, and Theron and his wife, Judy, all of Bonners Ferry; grandchildren Jacob, Mica, Aaron, Travis, Lauren, Belle and Jason Wages, Karrie Shutes, Jamie Fulton, Aubree Evey and Kellen MacDonald; and nine great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Don and Wayne Wages; and a grandson, Jason Wages.