Communities mourn Flathead leaders

The Flathead Valley is reeling after the losses of three pillars of the community this week. Jack Brown, Jane Lopp and C.B. McNeil were all leaders, role models and pioneers in their respective areas.

Brown opened the Kalispell grocery store now known as Smith’s in 1950 with his brother-in-law Arnold Beck, giving the store its distinctive B&B name. Brown and another brother-in-law, Melvin Lane, opened the Columbia Falls store in 1954, and later a third B&B store in Polson. The B&B was a meeting place as well as a shopping center andc was an important hub in Kalispell’s social life.

Lopp was the principal of Jane Lopp & Associates, a financial consulting and insurance business in Kalispell. She began her career in financial planning and insurance in 1979 and joined Prudential in 1997. She was a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable and in 2005 was named one of the top 15 financial planners nationally by Prudential. Her life was tragically cut short by an automobile accident.

McNeil practiced law in Polson until 1984, when he was elected as the first district judge for the 20th Judicial District. During his 29 years on the bench, he presided over 27,266 district court cases, including 223 jury trials to verdict. He was a delegate to the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention and was proud to have helped author many of the environmental protections afforded to Montana citizens under our Constitution.

In addition to their impressive and long-lasting professional accomplishments in the local business sphere, each of the three took service and giving back to the community seriously. They were all active on a variety of charity, educational, civic and nonprofit boards throughout their lives, in addition to serving as on-the-ground volunteers.

The groundwork they laid will impact generations to come, and their dedication to the communities they served is something that will be greatly missed.