JACK HOLTERMAN: He Begins a New Journey

Yesterday I went to Jack Holterman’s funeral, a three hour drive up through the reservation and then across the mountains through Marias Pass, a route I’ve followed so many times in the last half-century that it is layered and layered with memories of seasons and friends and emotions. St. Richard’s Catholic Church is on Highway 2 as it passes through Columbia Falls. Jack was a lifelong member. As a former seminarian, the mass held deep meaning for him. His good friend, Darrell Kipp, with whom he so enjoyed discussing religious issues and the teaching of Blackfeet language, spoke and so did Jack’s son, Mark Talas, a Hopi. Jack had many adopted and fostered sons. I first met him in 1961 because he was building a cabin at St. Mary’s just up the bluff from Bob Scriver’s. It was a reassembly of a stone house he had found somewhere, much more charming and durable than Bob’s or any of the other wooden cabins on that allotment.

St. Richard’s Catholic Church is large, the kind of high arched space made possible by the invention of curved glu-lam beams. Two white-haired priests performed the mass and the casket had no flowers -- rather an open book of the liturgy. Used to the soft laments of country-music guitar at Browning funerals, I was stirred by the soaring music of Mary Burgess whose marvelous voice was accompanied by her own piano playing.

Afterwards Darrell and Shirlee Crowshoe, who was riding shotgun, went to the lunch but I gracelessly went to my true church: the bookstore. “BooksWest” is one of “stations of the heart” where I always stop, partly because I knew the owner is tiring, worn out by the struggle with chains and the pressure of population growth -- not many of them readers. She had many Holterman books on her shelves. (1-800-471-2270)

We enjoyed gossiping about folks both dead and alive, both readers and writers -- plus artists. A virtual community. There is a many-layered weaving of friends, small businesses, and years and years of interaction that is the real Montana. Casual visitors never find it. True members never leave it, even in death.

The tamaracks are turning yellow at the top of the continental divide, but only partly turned as one descends the other side. (The east side is an abrupt drop to a relatively high altitude -- the west side wanders down gradually to the Flathead Valley.) In the Valley it’s still late summer -- hanging baskets still blooming.


Rudolph John ‘Jack’ Holterman Jr., 91
Posted: Sunday, Oct 01, 2006 - 12:02:35 am MDT in the Daily InterLake.

Rudolph John Holterman Jr., “Jack” to his friends and family, 91, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006, of natural causes.

Jack was born April 18, 1915, to Rudolph and Florence (Stelter) Holterman in San Francisco. Jack was formally educated in California public schools and graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco. He received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Spanish from Stanford University, and did additional work in Spanish and philosophy in Mexico, Arizona and Washington.

After college, Jack looked for a teaching job, which brought him to Montana. He taught for one year in a private home near the Canadian border. From there, he taught at Starr School on the Blackfeet Reservation. For the next two years, Jack studied at seminaries in Seattle and Camarillo, Calif. After World War II broke out, Jack served in the U.S. Navy as a hospital corpsman, stationed in Japan and China.

When the war ended, Jack came back to the United States via a trip around the world, the first of four such trips. For many years, Jack taught on the Navajo, Hopi, Blackfeet and Salish Reservations. While teaching in Winslow, Ariz., Jack was afflicted with Bell’s palsy and was released from his teaching job in order to rehabilitate himself with the help of his mother.

Once his health improved, Jack made his way back to Montana, with two brothers from the Navajo Reservation, Roy and Albert Pete, and Mark Talas from the Hopi Reservation. Roy was 15 years old, Albert was 5 years old, and Mark was 16 years old. In addition to teaching Spanish, Jack raised Roy, Albert and Mark in Whitefish along with boys from the Hopi, Navajo, Blackfeet, and Rocky Boy reservations and other troubled boys seeking a home. As the years went by, Jack’s generosity extended to his grandchildren. Jack taught at Whitefish High School and Flathead Valley Community College.

Jack’s love of the Spanish language continued throughout his lifetime. He spent a summer studying at the University in Mexico City. He also loved genealogy and spent hours and hours researching his own heritage.

As a linguist, Jack put the Blackfeet language in written form for the Piegan Institute in Browning. He was a familiar face in Glacier National Park headquarters and Glacier Natural History Association offices. Jack wrote many historical monographs, the result of hours of research of western history. In the process Jack wrote “King of the High Missouri,” which tells the story of the Culbertson Family. Jack was best known for his book “Place Names of Glacier National Park,” which he recently revised and published after being out of print for 15 years.

Jack resided in Apgar for several years before selling his property to the National Park Service. He moved to Nyack were he resided until 1988. Until a year ago, Jack resided in West Glacier.

Jack’s second home and love was for the country of New Zealand. He spent many winters residing in Rotorua on the North Island. He loved the Maori people along with the study of their culture. He was well known by the residents of Rotorua. On Nov. 5, 2005, Jack attempted to return to his favorite winter haven, which also included a scheduled round the world jaunt. Unfortunately, Jack fell at the airport, which hindered him from living alone and further travel. Jack’s final residence was the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls. He left with a sense of peace after finishing a fictional historic novel — a first for him.

Jack will be missed by many, including adopted son, Albert; his wife, Mary Pete; and grandsons, Justin, Cory and Travis; Mark Talas and family; Roy Pete and family; Reggie Talayumptewa and family; Frank Talayumptewa and family; Louie De Cora and family; cousin Rosemary and Dave Delameter and family; and Greta Holterman and family. As a scholar, world traveler, author and friend to many, including those who sought his knowledge and wisdom, “We love you, Jack.”


The following URL will direct you to an excellent essay about Jack:

Riverbend, MT News
For writer Jack Holterman, the places in Glacier Park are a song rich with history. May 21, 2006 | Missoulian. If you grew up speaking English, then Jack ...
www.topix.net/city/riverbend-mt