Daryl Peter Vaira was born in Sidney, MT, on March 4, 1956, the fourth of eight children born to James P. and Margaret Fink Vaira. He grew up on the family farm NW of Lambert where he attended school. Always the sports athlete and fan, he excelled in basketball and track. Another important activity was his involvement in Farmers Union Youth Camps.

After high school, Daryl attended Billings VO-TECH, adding to his knowledge of mechanics. Returning to Lambert he worked at the fertilizer plant and Nortana. Then he moved to Sidney and worked at Action Auto.

Daryl and Kimberlee were quietly married at their home in Sidney, MT on December 17, 1981. They found their best selves in each other. They were blessed with five children and nineteen grandchildren, building a forever legacy. His family was everything he prayed for, and they were truly the loves of his life. When the ‘80’s oil boom hit, Daryl went to work on the construction and operation of the Koch Gas Plant SE of Sidney. When he wasn't working twelve-hour days, he made lifelong friends there. We called them his work boys. After sixteen years he changed course and worked at Holly Sugar for eight years, starting out doing maintenance and working up to welder. As was his way, many lifelong friends were made there also.

Another change of plans found Daryl pursuing a new passion. He started a woodworking business in a new shop he built, making oak decor and oak/barnwood picture frames. Eventually he concentrated on most barnwood frames. He took Kim out on adventures to old farmsteads gathering tons of wood. He built frames for countless people in all towns across Montana. He would take a stack everywhere he traveled to, giving them away. He loved that final part of his creations. In the meantime, he found work at a new gas gathering business in the area. He was a Field Operator for Hiland partners, being lucky to “work in his own back yard” as he always said. The company eventually sold to Kinder Morgan which was his last employer.

Aside from working in the cold and harsh conditions, he always had time for all of the activities at Lambert school, running the clock at football games and working track meets, especially cheering on the Lambert Lions and Richey Royals and later the R&L Fusion. Daryl and Kim travelled to over thirty State C basketball tournaments in March, as kind of a birthday get-a-way. Then this also included twenty years of State C Track Meets. One year, Drue and him were asked to work that track meet, they had a blast! One of his favorite accomplishments was being the Starter for many local elementary, junior high and high school track meets. He was a wonderful mentor and supporter of all athletes in the area, always joking and putting nervous athletes at ease. The whole district knew him. He had a blast doing it all, even the one time that the meet didn’t end until almost ten PM.

Daryl became a huge Griz fan after attending his first college basketball game watching Jeremy Lake. Then came the football games, the trips to Missoula, seeing the girls (Tiffany, Amber, and Erin at college) that Kim so desperately wanted to see. He even gave up much of his woodworking shop to build Grandpa’s Griz Cave! Game day parties meant having Griz and even Bobcat fans over for fun and laughter. Taking trips was another way he spent time with Kim, visiting Courtney in Connecticut and Washington state, National Finals Rodeo in Vegas, Denver to see Devon, San Diego for Spencer’s Marine Corps graduation, Mexico resort, the Navy’s Tiger Cruise on a submarine with Brandon Joyce, family cruise to Bahamas with Megan and family, Fink Cousins Cruise with Nancy and Gerard, Larry and Kathy and six Fink cousins. The most memorable was the trip to Italy! Eleven days on a tour with Doreen and Craig, Janice and Todd, Nick and Nancy. Memories he cherished, family, wine, and laughter!!!

Daryl’s years-long battle with Alzheimer's and Frontal Temporal Degenerative Dementia ended on November 27, 2025, in the loving embrace of Kim and all the kids surrounding him. We got to spend the last days by his side with the loving care provided by the Hospice team and staff of Canyon Creek Memory Care.

Carrying on his legacy are his children; Carrie and Kevin Brost, Sidney, MT, Courtney Vaira, Bismarck ND, Megan and Brendan McDonald, Cody, WY, Devon Vaira, Bismarck, ND, and Drue Vaira Tioga ND. His grandchildren Spencer Vaira, Madison, Brianna, Tyler, and Tristyn Brost, Braeden, Owan, and Kiera Joyce, Makyya Vaira, Milanya, Miryn, Myscha, Ruxyn Vaira Beyer, Konrad, Kavik and Kroy Duewel, Keagan, Xander and Breckin Vaira. He is also survived by his seven siblings, Kim’s siblings, and many cousins on the Vaira, Fink and Baldwin side. Special people to him were Carla Rustad, CC Clark, Dorothy Fink, Valerie Baldwin, Tracy Kruger, Amber Baldwin, Erin Baldwin Heather Carter, Shawn Baisch Bob and Nicki Clyde, Matt Clyde, Bill Buckley and his Lambert, Richey, and Elmdale lifelong friends.

Memorial Contribution