By Jim Bell
Special to The Montana Catholic

An appreciative crowd gathered in perfect autumn weather at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Missoula to hear tales about some of those who have gone before us. Relatives of decedents joined other storytellers on Sunday, Oct. 25, for “Stories and Stones,” held several times in recent years.

Suzette Dussault of Missoula talked about her grandmother, Mary Dussault, who died in 1934 and had lived, for more than 45 years, in the Grass Valley area west of Missoula. The Montreal native was a young girl when she arrived in Butte by stagecoach in 1889, subsequently moving to Grass Valley. She was the mother of two daughters and five sons, many of whom remained in the Missoula area and are buried at St. Mary’s and other area cemeteries, among them St. John the Baptist in Frenchtown.

Sam Richter told the story of Frank H. Cooney, a Butte businessman who was elected lieutenant governor in 1932 and became governor in 1933, during the Great Depression, when Gov. John E. Erickson resigned to serve in the U.S. Senate. Cooney, whose achievements included revision of state liquor laws and creation of a water conservation program, died in 1935.

Records indicate that he was Montana’s ninth governor, but his grave marker states he was the eighth. The discrepancy apparently is tied to Gov. Joseph K. Toole having served two terms that were not consecutive.

Cooney’s grandson, Mike Cooney, resides in Helena. He is a state senator and former secretary of state.

The Tremper family story was presented by Debra T. Williams, daughter of Frank and Dolores (Tubbs) Tremper. Several generations of the Tremper and Tubbs families are buried at St. Mary’s.

William Greene Tremper was born in Helena in 1887. During construction of the Cathedral of St. Helena, he and his father used horses and wagons to transport stone from the quarry to the cathedral site. Father John O’Kennedy, founder of St. Anthony Parish, encouraged the Trempers to move from Twin Bridges to Missoula. William Tremper borrowed money to buy 100 gallons of gasoline, which he sold on the first day in Missoula and then repaid the loan. His enterprising ways led to formation of a company, Tremper’s Distributing, which eventually had Conoco gas stations in Missoula, Polson and East Helena.

In William Tremper’s later years, he saw a new idea in California – a strip mall. With the help of three sons, he built Tremper Shopping Center on the south side of Missoula. The shopping center still exists, and involves family members.

Patrice Schwenk, a librarian at Missoula’s Loyola Sacred Heart High School, related the story of Sister Donat of the Sisters of Providence. Born M. Joseph Coté, she died in 1885 at age 19. The story of the Sisters of Providence from Montreal is legendary in the Missoula area. Lesser known are the stories of sacrifice by sisters such as Sister Donat.

On Sept. 10, 1885, Missoula’s Sacred Heart Academy, which had recently been blessed and named by Bishop J. B. Brondel, opened its doors to 59 students. A case of smallpox was reported at the hospital and both students and faculty had been exposed. The school’s new music teacher, Sister Donat, arrived from Montreal, but died from smallpox after 13 days. The school was closed for several weeks. Fortunately, no students were infected in the smallpox outbreak.

Jack Thibodeau related the story of the Thibodeau family, many members of which are buried in several Missoula cemeteries. Jack shared information about his grandmother, Falvie Thibodeau, who was born in Maine, lived in the Grass Valley area and was a mother of eight.

The children included Wilfrid “Fritz” Thibodeau, who came to the Bonner area near Missoula for mill work in 1928 and is a longstanding member of St. Ann Parish in Bonner. Confirmation candidates recently recognized Fritz, at age 94, for his work with the church. He recounted stories of the time when Jack Sterling, son of a Missoula banker, promoted a hockey team named The Missoula Mules. Five Milltown-area Thibodeau brothers, with the names Al, Percy, Pat, Ed and Fritz (the goalie), played teams in Butte, Anaconda and Great Falls. The trips to Butte were brutal, especially with intense cold and flat tires in the winter.

The story of James O. Harrison, one of 13 victims of the Mann Gulch Fire that burned in the Helena National Forest in 1949, was recounted by Jim Bell. Harrison was a veteran smokejumper. In 1949, his mother forbade him to jump and he became a camp guard at Meriwether Campground in the canyon adjacent to Mann Gulch. When the fire erupted, he tried to fight it alone for several hours and then worked with smokejumpers. Harrison’s watch stopped at 5:56 p.m. on Aug. 5, 1949. He and 12 others lost their lives as they tried to flee Mann Gulch.

As in the previous years that stories have been shared at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Mick Harsell reflected on the lives of Peter and Mary Ronan, and Don Gilder provided stories about the Thomas Foley families.

Mike Hamlin, sexton of St. Mary’s Cemetery, told the story of Joseph Gangner. He was Flathead County’s first sheriff, in 1893-95, and died in 1927. According to a recent book, Gangner shot notorious train robber Jack Chipman in a gunfight in the upper Middle Fork of the Flathead River drainage. Gangner investigated the murder of Lena Cunningham near Columbia Falls. His efforts led to the sensational trial of Cunningham’s murderer, Charley Black.

In May of this year, Hamlin worked with Gangner’s great-grandson, Mike Dockstader of Bigfork, to install a new monument/headstone in Gangner’s memory.

Refreshments for “Stories and Stones” were provided by Missoula Knights of Columbus Council 1021.

Planning for the 2010 event has begun. People who wish to participate, or suggest stories, are encouraged to call Mike Hamlin at 406-543-7951 or Don Gilder at 406-251-2127.

Jim Bell is a parishioner at Christ the King Parish in Missoula.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 25, No. 11, November 20, 2009.