Longtime businessman Crouch dies

Longtime Columbia Falls businessman Cal Crouch, 81, died Thursday at his Echo Lake home.

Crouch opened his jewelry and watch-repair shop on Nucleus Avenue in 1947. The business has been in operation since, making it one of the town's oldest stores.

The son of eastern Montana homesteaders, Crouch apprenticed with a Malta watchmaker and a Norwegian watchmaker in The Dalles, Ore., before he and his wife, Carol, came to Columbia Falls. With $500 in E series war bonds, they set up shop on the south end of Nucleus Avenue.

"We were always broke," Crouch said in a 1999 Daily Inter Lake interview. "For the first 10 or 12 years we had lawyers at the door collecting bills."

He was a leader in numerous civic activities. Crouch served two terms on the City Council, was president of the Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce, helped organize and was the first president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Flathead Valley and was the first president of the local Kiwanis Club.

Crouch hired store assistant Arla Wilson in 1966. Wilson has handled the business during recent years as Crouch's health declined.

Customer service was always Crouch's hallmark, and he maintained that treating customers fairly was why he succeeded in business.

Funeral services are pending.