Kalispell native works to make Rollins safer

Gary Jystad has seen his share of carnage. As a long-time trauma doctor and volunteer firefighter, injuries are nothing new to him.

So when he says the speed limit on U.S. 93 in Rollins needs to be lowered from its current 65, he’s speaking from experience.

“From Dayton to Lakeside 93 is probably the most dangerous stretch of highway in the country,” Jystad said. “It’s extremely treacherous. It’s narrow, hilly, only a few passing lanes and maybe 20 percent of drivers drive the speed limit. The rest are driving 5, 10, 15 miles per hour over.”

A Kalispell native, Jystad has served the Rollins Volunteer Fire Department for nearly 25 years. In that time he has seen rollovers, cars totaled by rear-endings and deer hits, and yes, injuries and death.

“The thing is, if you’re going 70, and the car behind you is going 70 and it’s only 30 feet behind, and a deer jumps out in front of you, what’s going to happen?” he said. “In the little town of Proctor the speed limit is 50. It’s 45 in Big Arm and Elmo. But it’s 70 in Rollins? That makes no sense.”

Jystad, 81, said he got a petition signed by more than 60 Rollins residents and brought it before the Lake County commissioners looking for a reduction of the speed limit to 55 mph.

“They did a study with two little strips on the highway,” he said. “But they did it in late fall, almost winter, and there was no traffic. Nothing has happened.”

Jystad went to the University of Montana for his undergraduate degree and then Washington University of St. Louis for medical school.

“I was lucky because I grew up in a time where I could come home and work good jobs for a kid,” he said. “I worked on the Hungry Horse Dam, I worked in the woods setting chokers, loaded train cars with railroad ties. At that time there was a lot going on in the valley and I was able to pay for school.”

During his last year of school, he joined the U.S. Air Force and moved his wife, Mary Ellen, to Malmstrom Air Force Base. The couple lived in Great Falls, Missoula and Whitefish before moving to Southern California.

Jystad took a job as the chief physician at the Los Angeles County Medical Center at the University of Southern California. He spent eight years teaching at the college and working with the heavy trauma cases.

“Emergency medicine wasn’t a specialty then,” he said. “There’s always been something about putting people back together that I’ve found fascinating.”

After eight years in the city, he moved to a private practice in Torrance, California, until his wife desired to return to Montana.

When back in Big Sky Country, the fame of the two switched.

“When we were down there, people would ask her if she was the wife of the doctor,” Jystad said. “But when we came up here, people would always ask me if I was the husband of the quilter. She was an amazing quilter.”

Jystad flew back and forth from Montana to Los Angeles for several years until he could leave the practice. He moved permanently to the area in 1994 when they built a house on Shelter Bay near Rollins.

Cancer took Mary Ellen at 78 in 2013. The couple had three children and several grandchildren.

In memory of his wife, Jystad joined a group called the Dirt Bags, a community prayer organization, which meets every Friday morning at Pick’s Bowling Center near Bigfork.

He remains a trustee at the Rollins Volunteer Fire Department and Jystad, still a medically licensed doctor, sees Rollins-area patients when they are injured or ailing.

“I see people in the community a few times a month,” he said. “My fee for it is a hug. I’m a hugger.”

His passion for patching up the injured remains strong, which is why his concern for the highway speed limit is something close to his heart.

“It’s just crazy out there, especially in winter,” Jystad said. “The fire department responds to a lot of medical calls. I want people to be safe.”

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.