Ernest G. Brooner, 84, a longtime resident of the Flathead Valley, passed away Thursday, April 10, 2008. Ernie was born March 2, 1924, in Kalispell, the son of Ernest D. and Mabel Louise (Jewell) Brooner.

He graduated from Flathead County High School in 1941, and entered the U.S. Navy immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack. An early amateur-radio enthusiast, Ernie was trained by the Navy as a radio, radar, and sonar operator, serving four years in fleet communications and on the submarines Grouper and Runner during World War II.

After the war, he married Carlene Wilke of Kalispell, and began a career centered on communications, electronics and information technology. This included work in radio and television, on major defense programs including the DEW Line (Distant Early Warning radar network) and in the construction of major AUTODIN communications installations in Alaska and Vietnam. His assignments included extensive service in Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Alaska.

In the 1970s, he returned to Montana, managing radio operations for the state forestry, modernizing the network for remote operations and introducing solar powered transmission sites, while building his own home in the Lakeside area.

An early pioneer in computers as well as radio, Ernie was a partner in Comlabs Inc., the first micro- and personal-computer business in the valley, and after study at Flathead Valley Community College, he served as an instructor there in computer science. He authored or co-authored four books on related topics in the early 1980s.

Ernie was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister, Jewell Shannon.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Carlene; their children, Karen L. Borsato of Quesnel, British Columbia, Barbara J. Brooner of Seattle, and Ernest C. Brooner of Reston, Va.; his grandchildren, Victor Schut of the Netherlands, and Sunshine Borsato of Quesnel; great-grandchildren, Sarah, Emma and Rome; a sister, Jean A. Tyler, of Salt Lake City; and many nieces and nephews.

For those who would like to stop by, an informal get-together with family will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday, April 14, at the Best Western White Oak Hotel, at the junction of U.S. 93 and Montana 82. No flowers, please.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for Ernie's family. You are invited to go to www.jgfuneralhome.com to offer condolences and to sign Ernie's guest book.