John Francis Hammett, 96

After losing his spouse and copilot, Lois, two months ago, and realizing his work on earth was complete, John Francis Hammett, consummate gentleman, family man, unassuming champion of community service, and advocate for those less fortunate than he, passed away peacefully on Jan. 27, 2024, in his own bed surrounded by his family, fully engaged in the mystery of his own death.

John was born on Jan. 11, 1928, in Fort Collins, Colorado, the third of six children born to Walter and Catherine (Price) Hammett. He spent his childhood in Fort Collins and graduated from High School there in 1945. His family, in John’s deadpan telling of it, “was in the iron and steel business. My mother would iron clothes and my father would steal.” 

After graduation, John, who was a true patriot, not in the current polarized political sense, but through his genuine love of country, chose to enlist in the US Navy. When choosing between military branches, he assumed correctly that Navy ships were more likely to have consistent hot water for showering than might be available in the other service branches. Military life appealed to John’s sense of order and dedication, and although he enjoyed that life, greater things lay ahead.

Returning home with an honorable discharge in 1947, John attended Colorado State University for two years, before he and two friends, hearing rumors of good paying jobs at the Hungry Horse Dam in Montana, headed north to seek their fortunes. Unfortunately, when they arrived in the Flathead Valley, jobs in Hungry Horse had grown scarce, and only one of the three friends (predictably, the one who owned the car) was hired. After hitchhiking back to Kalispell and licking his wounds, John found work as a gas station attendant, where his hard work and top-notch customer care impressed Pat Sheehan, a local Kalispell lumber broker. Sheehan had the good sense to ask John if he might be interested in selling lumber, and the rest, as they say, is history. John became a lumberman.

After the Sheehan Lumber Company relocated to Spokane, Washington, John needed a job, and as luck would have it, while bartending at the Buffalo Hills Country Club, John met Hap Simpson, the owner of H.E. Simpson Lumber Company. John and Hap hit it off immediately, and John soon pitched the idea of co-owning H.E. Simpson; John would be the company salesman while Hap would handle company administration. Hap agreed to the proposal and the partnership thrived for many years before John purchased the company outright in the early 1970s. John also established and co-owned Try-City Lumber Co. for almost 25 years, and had his hand in a wide variety of other business ventures in Montana over the years.

Although John excelled in the art of the deal, he excelled even more as a human being. For John, business leadership went hand in hand with community involvement. He was a member of countless charitable boards and committees, and was one of the founding members of the Samaritan House homeless shelter in Kalispell. John’s integrity and honesty made him the perfect champion to lead charitable fundraising campaigns, and when hesitant donors needed reassurance, he often brokered arrangements to keep their donations on track. 

Another of John’s volunteer pastimes was working for Catholic Prison Ministries as a spiritual advisor, counseling inmates at the Flathead County Jail. John told the story of one inmate, who in the weeks leading up to his trial became a fervent convert to Jesus. On trial day, while John ministered to other inmates at the jail, the now supposedly converted inmate was convicted and sentenced to serve more time behind bars. When the inmate returned to his cell, John walked in to resume his counseling, but before he could say a word, the inmate grabbed the bible from John’s hand, threw it at the wall, and yelled, “Damn thing doesn’t work!”.

John always said that Montana had been good to him, and he believed wholeheartedly in giving back to his adopted home. In that spirit of giving, he was an active member of countless fraternal organizations including the Knights of Columbus, the Elks, and the International Concatenated Order of Hoo Hoo - Members of the forest products industry, of course. Doesn’t everyone know a Hoo Hoo?

John was a devout Catholic, possessing an enviable faith and an incredible physical and intellectual work ethic. He was honest and honorable with a wickedly dry sense of humor, and even after more than 70 years together, he would occasionally surprise Lois with a story or joke that she had not heard before. With the exception of his God, John loved his family more than anything else, and tirelessly participated in all aspects of their lives, from teaching his young hunters, to coaching baseball, to just hanging out enjoying an afternoon coffee. A perfect summer day for John entailed working 8-10 hours, then heading to the family home on Lake Blaine to pull water skiers past sunset. 

Beyond the legacy of good works in his beloved Montana, and of his favorite saying, “Wood is good!”, John leaves behind four sons, Jeffery, Michael, Richard, and Matthew (Stephanie); two daughters, Jane (Rod) and Lisa (Brian); 12 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Feb. 2, (Rosary at 10 a.m.) at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Kalispell.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Samaritan House in Kalispell in the name of John Hammett.