Hollister ‘Pat’ McVay, 100

Pat McVay was born into an era of greeting friends and family with warm hugs and hearty handshakes. In this unprecedented year where none of that is possible, we as a family have decided to hold close to our hearts the wonderful 100-year celebration we had with and for him on his birthday and forgo a formal memorial service.

Hollister “Pat” McVay was born March 14, 1920, in Tonkowa, Oklahoma, and crossed the Great Divide on May 18, 2020, at his farm in the Lake Blaine area. There are very few men who touched as many lives as he did in a lifetime. He lived his life with enthusiasm, wonder, caring and mentoring. He had an abounding love of the outdoors, nature, hunting, fishing and hiking. He had a love of family and the land.

He was fond of saying he talked his mother into returning to her homestead in Milligan Basin Montana at 2 months of age. His childhood was spent there and later in Elk, Washington. After graduating from Rogers High School in Spokane, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and spent two years as and Air Force machinist in the Pacific Islands. When the war ended, he returned to Washington, and went to work for the Bureau of Reclamation on Grand Coulee Dam. He met and married the love of his life Marie Luce in 1947. As soon as Hungry Horse Dam was completed, they moved to Hungry Horse. In 1952 he had the honor of flipping the switch on the first working generator. He continued to work on Hungry Horse Dam as a powerhouse shift operator, retiring in 1975.

The family lived in Hungry Horse for five years and then moved to a five-acre home in Coram for five more years, until moving to their beautiful 40-acre farm in the Lake Blaine area where they raised their four daughters, Marsha (Voermans), Verna (Swanson), Chris McVay and Kate (Tyner).

Dad was part of the Coram and later Lake Blaine and Cayuse Prairie school boards. He was president and involved with the Rocky Mountain Riders Saddle Club, held offices in the Montana Saddle Club Association and was on the Flathead Employees Credit Union board of directors. He was a member of the NW Arms Collectors Association for many years.

He started a junior rifle program while in Hungry Horse and pioneered a hunter safety class. Dad, along with Mel Ruder of Columbia Falls, were instrumental in getting the hunters safety requirement law passed, and in 1957 he was recognized as the first hunter safety instructor in the state of Montana. He taught at least one and sometimes more classes every year for the next 60-plus years. Dad always felt no time was ever wasted spent with a child, especially afield. His emphasis was always on safety and fun.

Dad also involved his family in the Dandy Dudes and Dolls 4-H club and became a livestock leader. He also became the beef barn superintendent at the Northwest Montana Fair for many years.

As a 4-H leader, he heard about a 4-H shooting program. In 1984 he went to Worthington Center in Texas to become certified as an instructor. Then, with the help of the State Extension Office, he and other volunteers took it upon themselves to train leaders in nearly every county in the state. He also started an air rifle program in Flathead County and saw the program grow from 12 shooters to 235 shooters in Flathead County with nine different disciplines in our county and one of the largest projects statewide. He lived to see his grandchildren and great-grandsons be a part of it. His philosophy was always that, although not every child would be a marksman, each could learn safe, ethical and fun techniques as tools. He felt 4-H is in the youth development business.

He was inducted into the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Hall of Fame, and the 4-H Shooting Hall of Fame in recognition of his dedication to the sport of hunting, his love of shooting sports, and his continuing determination to pass it on to future generations of Montanans.

Always with Dad there was time for the great outdoors. He rode horseback, and hiked thousands of miles in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Jewel Basin. He hunted every year for over 40 years in Eastern Montana in the Missouri Breaks and became lifelong friends with the ranchers there. Dad was known for his generous hospitality, his enthusiasm, his warm friendship and his memorable toasts! This hunting tradition continues today including grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Dad and the ranchers.

When three of his daughters and their families settled on Kodiak Island, Alaska, he spent several years visiting, fishing and hunting. He said his daughters could move anywhere they wanted as long as the fishing was as good as in Kodiak!

Dad always had a quest for knowledge and was a voracious reader. He became well versed on Montana history, Western history and the world around him. His knowledge of Montana would rival any college class (maybe because he lived so much of it!)

Later he also traveled to the warmer climates in the winter, spending time with his wonderful, loving companion Mary Jane Church. They spent many long hours exploring the desert, gold panning, riding four- wheelers, metal detecting and having adventures. He enthusiastically became versed in all the flora and fauna of the desert.

Dad valued family and friendship above all else. No one was a stranger who came through his door. He always found something to laugh about each day.

We would like to especially thank those who helped make Dad’s last years comfortable and memorable — Agape Home Care, especially his team of Becky, Joel, Melissa and Dave; and his many friends who stopped in for good visit, a tiddly or a game of cribbage or Farkle. May we all raise our glasses to a life well lived!