Father Bud Strom, a musically gifted priest who joined the clergy after a military career spanning 24 years, died July 12 at a senior-living facility in Whitefish. He was 95.

The funeral liturgy was celebrated by Bishop George Leo Thomas on Thursday, July 15, at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Whitefish, where Father Strom was ordained 38 years ago. A vigil took place the evening before the funeral.

Charles Walter “Bud” Strom was born to Alfred and Mary Strom on Oct. 11, 1914, in Whitefish and grew up there. His strength in music was evident during his youth, and in 1931 he won the Montana Piano Contest in Billings. Father Strom recalled decades later that compositions he played there included Bach’s “Partita No. 1.”

At the University of Idaho, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education, with three years as a music teacher in Orofino, Idaho, separating his undergraduate and graduate studies.

He enlisted in the military in 1942 and retired in 1966 as an Air Force lieutenant colonel. His military service involved personnel and administrative work, and took him to every continent except Australia. Sundays during his military years usually found him playing church organs or leading church choirs.

Following Air Force retirement, he spent a year in northern Minnesota, where he assisted a priest he knew in the military. Having talked to then-Bishop Raymond G. Hunthausen of the Diocese of Helena about the possibility of a religious vocation, Father Strom studied at Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Mass. He was an organist and choir member at the seminary, and during part of his time there he helped arrange musical programs to entertain residents of a nursing home nearby.

Ordained a priest by Bishop Hunthausen on June 23, 1972, at St. Charles in Whitefish, Father Strom served as associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Libby from 1972-78; associate pastor at St. Richard Parish in Columbia Falls from 1978-80; and administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in Ronan from 1980-84. After a stroke and a period of recovery, he accepted senior status in the diocese in 1984. He lived in his family home in Whitefish, assisted parishes as needed and ministered in nursing homes. For the past few months, Father Strom resided at Riverside Senior Living Facility in Whitefish.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 7, July 16, 2010.