Woman found life tricks in bridge

Club that Hensleigh helped start is still playing after more than 50 years

By CANDACE CHASE/The Daily Inter Lake

Helen Hensleigh of Kalispell shares a passion with billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett - the game of bridge.

"It's just the greatest memory stimulant," she said.

As proof, she cited the precise page of a recent New Yorker article in which Gates and Buffett discuss their interest in a pilot program of bridge in the schools to teach math, logic and teamwork to youngsters.

Hensleigh would add competition, social skills and a positive attitude - qualities she maintained as a founding member of the Kalispell Duplicate Bridge Club. Due to her nurturing, the club has flourished since its franchise was granted in 1954.

She continues as the organizing force for the club, finding partners for visitors and setting up the games twice a week. Hensleigh also played her way to a 2,500-point duplicate bridge Gold Life Master designation.

At her age, which she gives only as "legal," Hensleigh said she doesn't care to travel to sectional, regional and national tournaments to advance farther. She remains satisfied with her life achievements that included raising five children.

"They all have college educations and good jobs," she said.

Not bad for a farm girl from Baker in Eastern Montana.

She began life as the only girl in a family of eight children on the farm where her father raised cattle and wheat. With little female company, Hensleigh learned early how to communicate well with men, a skill that served her well later in the business environment of the 1940s and 1950s.

"I never knew what girls talked about," she said with a laugh.

Hensleigh got an early introduction to cards from her parents who played Whist, the forerunner to bridge.

She learned duplicate bridge in Baker from her neighbors, a doctor and his wife. Whenever she and a girlfriend didn't have dates, they would practice their game with the couple.

On one of the days she didn't play cards, she met Lyle, a naval officer who didn't like duplicate bridge but was wild about Helen.

"We had a courtship of three months and our marriage lasted 50 years," Hensleigh said with a smile.

The couple married in 1943. Since Lyle was at sea during World War II, Hensleigh followed her dream to move on her own from Baker to the Flathead Valley, which she had visited on vacation.

"I loved the lakes," she said.

Hensleigh recalled a "sleepy little town with no street lights." But just after arriving, Hensleigh heard troubling news on KGEZ.

"I turned on the radio and I heard that the Corps of Army Engineers had decided to flood the Flathead Valley," she said.

Hensleigh quickly called three men - Donald Treloar, Harry J. Kelly, and A.F. Winkler - who were trying to stop the plan to raise the level of Flathead Lake by 25 feet via Kerr Dam. It would have flooded much of the valley below Kalispell.

She told the men she would work for free for their Flathead Valley Citizens Commission. The group held meetings and the three men traveled back to Washington, D.C., three times to testify before Congress.

"I couldn't understand why more people didn't help," she said. "People just wouldn't put in any money."

The commission made a big enough impression to stop the Kerr Dam plan. Additional studies led to the alternative of building Hungry Horse Dam, completed in 1953.

Hensleigh's contributions to the commission inspired Winkler enough to hire her as the manager of the clothing store he owned on Main Street in downtown Kalispell. She remembered that he insisted that she learn the name of everyone who came in the store.

"That was one of the most important things I learned," she said.

She had worked there three years when Lyle came back from the war. Hensleigh took a firm stand against moving to a bigger town where her husband had better job prospects, vowing to support the family herself if necessary.

Lyle was approached to become a partner in building a grain elevator that became Kalispell Feed and Grain. He continued in the business until he retired due to heart problems.

Lyle died 14 years ago, after the couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Hensleigh worked for Winkler's for six years until demands of her growing family took priority. But she still offered private bridge lessons in their home for 50 cents a class.

Through teaching, she developed a nucleus of players that formed the Kalispell Duplicate Bridge Club.

Because she had a group playing in her home, Hensleigh was approached about getting a franchise from the American Contract Bridge League by Norbert Donahue, Dr. W.C. Peterson and Lawrence Larson.

"We started with 12 people," she said. "I took the director's test and I've been at it ever since."

The club began in a former art studio above Jordan's Cafe. Marshall Noice Studio & Gallery now occupies the space at 127 Main St. where the cafe was located.

Since her husband preferred tennis as a pastime, Hensleigh first played bridge with Larson, who owned American Timber Co. The two remained bridge partners for 20 years.

"That's when we got all of our points," she said. "He was a wonderful player. Everyone in town wanted him as their partner."

After that, Hensleigh played with Dean Marquardt for 10 years, then Dr. Jim Elliott for another 10 years. In a tragic turn of events, Elliott died of an aneurysm while playing bridge with Hensleigh.

The Kalispell Duplicate Club survived more than half a century to grow to 100 members. Bi-weekly play begins at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Masonic Lodge at 230 South Main.

Hensleigh also continues playing with the Rev. Vic Langhans as her partner. In 2004, she achieved her goal of joining the exclusive club of Gold Life Master, which includes only about 16 Montanans.

About five years ago, she was thrilled to play a game of bridge with Dudley Brown, a famous player and former president of the American Contract Bridge League.

"It was wonderful but everyone was staring at us," Hensleigh recalled.

She estimated that she has taught at least 100 people in her private lessons that convene on Mondays at her home.

Through the years, her passion for the game hasn't diminished.

Hensleigh said she still has loads of energy to keep the bridge club and herself on track. She said she walks about four miles a day and attends mass at St. Matthew's Church as often as possible.

She credits her parents for giving her a competitive spirit that helped her achieve so much in bridge. But Hensleigh said some other factors played as large a role in winning at the game of life.

"I begin every day with prayer," Hensleigh said. "It also helps to like people."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.