College gets $1 million gift

A Kalispell couple have donated $1 million to the Flathead Valley Community College Foundation.

Jim Daley, 96, and his late wife, Doris Monk Daley, established the James and Doris Monk Daley Endowed Scholarship Fund at FVCC. The fund is designed to help pay for college for Montanans who otherwise would not be able to go without scholarship support.

 “We are grateful to Jim and Doris for their generosity to help those in our great state afford an outstanding college education,” FVCC President Jane Karas said in a news release. “Their gift of education will be felt by students well into the future.” 

 According to Karas, the students’ majors, grade-point averages or dreams do not matter to be eligible for the scholarships.

“The only requirement is that they come from Montana, a place Jim loves, and that they seek an education to better the lives for themselves and their families,” she said.  

 A Montana native, Jim Daley moved to the Flathead Valley in 1924 where he and Doris would make their home.  

He worked in the construction business as a carpenter, building houses and working on public projects including Hungry Horse Dam and commercial buildings such as the aluminum plant near Columbia Falls. 

Upon his retirement, the couple settled in Lakeside. 

They were always passionate about helping Montana youths seek better lives and they believed education was the key. They initially set up a college scholarship fund for high school graduates in Flathead County. Doris died Nov. 30, 2000, one month after she and Jim celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. 

In 2007, Jim Daley established a scholarship fund for Montana students attending FVCC.

Daley served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. Last month, he traveled to Washington, D.C., with 76 other Montana veterans on the final World War II Big Sky Honor Flight.