Being there: Retirement gives West Valley pair the chance to volunteer, explore

The Daily Inter Lake

Retirement often is viewed as a time to slow down and relax, but for Frank and Linda deKort it has been an opportunity to stay busy, explore new places and pursue personal interests.

Just recently, for example, the West Valley couple returned from a trip to the Copper Canyon region of Mexico, where they worked in a local school for the indigenous Raramuri Indians and helped Habitat for Humanity's Mexican affiliate apply for some government grants.

The Copper Canyon is actually a series of six interconnected canyons in the state of Chihuahua southwest of Texas. Four of the canyons are deeper than the Grand Canyon.

The region formed about 30 million years ago by rapid down-cutting through volcanic rocks.

The Raramuri have inhabited the area for generations. Also known as the Tarahumara, they are legendary endurance runners, often running 100 miles or more across mountainous trails.

Frank said that tradition is beginning to change, though, as the canyons are bisected by logging roads and people discover the convenience of on-road travel.

Tourism and improved railroad access also are affecting the culture, but subsistence farming and cottage industries continue to be a major part of daily life.

The deKorts spent three weeks in the region in December. This was their third trip to the area, and they've had the same guide each time.

"We've gotten to know his family and the people there," Frank said.

"The first year we worked on an adobe house for an indigenous family, fixing the walls and roof. The second year we collected sand and gravel from the river. This year we took pictures of homes, so [the Habitat affiliate] could use them to apply for government grants."

Linda and Stacey Bengtson of West Glacier also worked in a school started by local Raramuri women who wanted to keep their kids at home rather than send them away to a Jesuit school.

"They have a building and a few teachers, but not many supplies or books," Linda said. "They asked us to come back next year and bring material."

Since retiring about six years ago, the deKorts also have done volunteer work in Hawaii and Costa Rica.

The couple first met at the University of Oregon in 1965, where they both attended graduate school. They subsequently returned to Montana, where Linda had lived as a young girl.

"Being from the flatlands, Frank fell in love with the mountains," she said.

Frank, who taught biology and served as principal and superintendent for West Valley School, was born in the Netherlands in the city of Tilburg.

"My father was a weaver, as was our family, dating on back into the 1600s," Frank said. "The city was famous for weaving, but then the global economy kicked in and it was gone in one generation. My grandfather was a house weaver, my father worked in a mill, but in my generation there were no weavers. It was a dying industry."

His father encouraged him to pursue a more promising life by getting an education.

In a roundabout way, the Soviet government also helped launch Frank's teaching career when it launched the first Sputnik satellite in October 1957, followed a month later by a second satellite.

In the panic that followed, science education immediately became America's national priority.

Money suddenly was available for a variety of programs - including graduate studies for biology teachers at the University of Oregon.

Linda also was a world traveler by the time she met Frank. She grew up in Montana and Wyoming, but when she was 8 her father joined a development agency and the family moved to the Middle East.

"We lived in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt," Linda recalled. "I went to high school in Beirut, Lebanon. I developed a love of travel and appreciation for other cultures, as well as an ability to 'roll with it' when things don't go according to plan."

After attending college in Vermont, she traveled to Japan, worked in Washington, D.C., and taught at Hellgate High School in Missoula before meeting Frank. Once they moved to the Flathead, she taught biology and advanced research biology at Flathead High School.

Since retiring, their choice of volunteer activities has occasionally been influenced by their experience as teachers.

The trip to Costa Rica, for example, was prompted by similar trips Linda took with her students to visit the country's biological reserves.

After showing up unannounced and asking how they could help, the deKorts collected insects that were trapped inside flowers. Researchers then examined the bug droppings to see if something new was growing there - one result of which, Linda said, was that "Frank had a new species of fungus named after him."

In addition to their international adventures, the deKorts volunteer locally as well: Linda is past president of Flathead Audubon, Frank is a director and secretary/treasurer of the Flathead Conservation District and serves on the Flathead County Planning Board, and together they work with Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

"There are just too many things to do. That's the problem with life," Linda said.

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com