Montana News

Former Montana mayor dies after wheelchair lift accident

Posted: Oct 12, 2012 3:44 PM by Melissa Rafferty - MTN News
Updated: Oct 12, 2012 3:44 PM

KALISPELL - Former Kalispell Mayor William Boharski died Thursday after an accident on a wheelchair lift.

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office reports Boharski, who was 51, was using a wheelchair lift in a commercial building in Kalispell when his wheelchair tipped over backwards, causing his head to strike the floor and wall.

He was transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center where he later died.

The cause of the accident is under investigation by the Flathead County Sheriff's Office and the Kalispell Police Department, while the cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy.

Boharski was mayor of Kalispell for one term from 1998 to 2001. He had served five terms in the Montana House of Representatives prior to becoming mayor in Kalispell.

He was also one of the earlier backers of legislation to help preserve the North Fork of the Flathead from development as one of the sponsors of House Joint Resolution No.9 in 1989 that requested "the governments of Montana, BC, the U.S. and Canada establish a cooperative structure to achieve conservation goals in the drainage while maintaining appropriate resource development options."