Andrew 'Andy' Lee Liddell, 83

Andrew "Andy" Lee Liddell passed away on Jan. 29, 2025, at home with his family, after several years of living a full life while being treated for cancer. 

He was born to Iola Mae and Norman Liddell in Bakersfield, California in 1941, and the family moved to Figarden in Fresno, California when he was very young. He grew up in this tight-knit agricultural community, dreaming of being a cowboy alongside his brother, Jack, singing barbershop with his siblings, and spending summers on the coast with his grandparents. He and his brother rode horses to school, raised pigs and cows for 4-H and FFA, and learned the value of hard work in the fig orchards. 

Andy attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, graduating with a degree in agricultural business management, and a plan for grand adventures. In summer 1964, he worked at the New York World’s Fair, meeting people from across the country. As soon as they were able, Andy and Jack took off to Florida, planning to sail around the world. Some of his fondest memories were of living on and restoring a sailboat with Jack and cruising the Bahamas. They never did quite make it around the world and Andy moved back west, where, in between summers working in the fig orchards, he found great communities of friends at the ski resorts of Sun Valley and Aspen, becoming successful at managing steakhouses in addition to farming. He also became a private pilot and found joy in flying between farms and mountain towns.

In 1982, Andy bought a farm in Kalispell and eventually moved to Montana nearly full-time, continuing to manage fig orchards while producing mint, barley, and alfalfa in Kalispell. In 1988, he married Kim Liddell (Forbes); their children, Chelsea and Patrick, were born in 1989 and 1990. He said that, of all the fun things he had done, raising kids was the best. He brought patience and empathy to fatherhood, was a wonderful listener, knew how to be silly, and spent the time to talk deeply with his kids about life. 

In Kalispell, he found a passion for team roping, and, in the late 1990s, he and his family began to spend most of the year in Arizona, allowing a year-round lifestyle centered around horses. After his children left home in the 2010s, he spent winters in the Turkey Creek neighborhood in Florida. There he could once again work on boats and made great friends, remembering sailing adventures and bringing key lime pies to potluck dinners. During the Montana summers, he spent his time throwing balls for his yellow lab, taking fishing trips, and riding his motorcycle around the state. In his last year, Andy was still living a big life, driving to California to see friends, harvesting a big garden, and spending time with his first grandson, who was born in December 2024. 

Andy was successful at business and was capable in so many ways—working on cars, fixing tractors, planting trees, butchering animals, and many more skills he needed to keep farms running for decades—but what made him special was his ability to love, to listen, to understand how others felt. He will be deeply missed.

He is survived by Kim Liddell, his children, Patrick Liddell and Chelsea Liddell (Norman French), sisters, Brenda Wolfe (Doug) and Patricia Wright (Walt), and his grandson, Andrew Liddell-French. 

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, July 12. Please call or text Chelsea at 602-290-2599 for more information.