HUNTER D'ANTUONO

Jeffry Lee, 61, a resident of Whitefish Care and Rehabilitation Center in Whitefish, has a smoke in front of the building on Jan 7, 2021. Lee is a Navy veteran and was a boat yard worker and commercial fisherman who built his own house before coming to live at Whitefish Care 6 years ago. His legs were amputated 3 years ago for medical reasons. He and many of his fellow residents contracted COVID-19 last year. Lee said he did not fall seriously ill. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Kalispell school resource officer Justin Turner in the alley behind the Kalispell City Police Department on Oct. 16, 2020. Turner contracted COVID-19 in August. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

TJ Hawkins, 36, a resident of Whitefish Care and Rehabilitation Center in Whitefish, has a smoke outside the building on Jan 13, 2021. A native of Mississippi, Hawkins was an infantryman in the Iraq War. He has Huntington’s Disease, a rare, irreversible condition that causes degeneration nerve cells in the brain. Hawkins and many of his fellow residents contracted COVID last year. “It felt real,” he said. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

James Haring, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 in late September, sits in Depot Park in Kalispell on Oct. 15, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Trooper Laramie Stefani of the Montana Highway Patrol wears a face mask he picked up at Hartstone Designs, a new Kalispell company manufacturing face masks. Stefani picked up a box of face masks to distribute to his coworkers on April 8, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Donna James, 91, visits with her husband Donald James, 92, with a cellphone through a glass door at Whitefish Care and Rehabilitation Center in Whitefish on Jan 13, 2021. Donald is a current resident of the home. The couple has been married for 72 years. “I love you,” said Donna. “I miss my cribbage partner. I’m sick of playing solitaire.” Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Activities Director and Assistant Principal Mark Dennehy on the football field at Glacier High School on Oct. 16, 2020. Dennehy contracted COVID-19 in July. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Robert Davis, 66, a resident of Whitefish Care and Rehabilitation Center in Whitefish, warms himself by the fireplace in the nursing home’s lobby on Jan 13, 2021. Davis was a rancher from Browning who broke horses for over three decades. “And then they broke me,” he said. He came to Whitefish Care six months ago after shattering a weak hip in a tumble off his bed. The only time he gets to leave the home is for his dialysis treatments three times a week. Davis and many of his fellow residents contracted COVID-19 last year. He said he experienced no symptoms. “I hate these damn things,” he said, pointing at his mask. “We have to wear these or we get sent back to our rooms, so easier to wear it, even though I don’t like it.” Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Bethany Shehan, a math teacher at Linderman Education Center, is pictured at her school in Kalispell on Oct. 16, 2020. Shehan contracted COVID-19 in September. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Brien Vielle, 60, a resident of Whitefish Care and Rehabilitation Center in Whitefish, sits in the nursing home’s lobby area on Jan 13, 2021. He grew up in Browning and was a construction worker and basketball player in his younger years. He and many of his fellow residents contracted COVID-19 last year. “It drained my body,” he said. “It was scary.” Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Sarah Johnson an ICU nurse in the COVID-19 unit at Kalispell Regional Healthcare on Oct. 16, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Judy Owsowitz, owner of Terrapin Farm west of Whitefish, is pictured in front of her farm stand on April 30, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon