Rancher, retired ag educator leaves lasting legacy
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CHARLO — Rancher/educator Donald Owen, 72, died on Feb. 28 due to blunt force trauma possibly sustained from one of his cows.
Owen, who lived alone on his ranch on the Post Creek hill, was discovered by neighbor Sharon Rosenbaum, who became concerned when she and other neighbors didn’t see Owen out and about and checked his house.
Before he returned to ranching in the Mission Valley, Owen taught vocational agriculture and welding in Belfry from 1961 to 1964 and in Columbus from 1964 to 1989. Owen was also the FFA advisor at these schools. After retiring, he moved back to his childhood home in the Mission Valley to help out on the family ranch as his parents and his Uncle Raymond grew older. Owen lived in the Mission Valley for the last 19 years.
A picture of the man emerges from recollections of Owen’s friends.
“I’ve known him, Lord amighty, close to 50 years,” Henry “Hank” Haagenstad, Helena, said.
Haagenstad taught ag in Red Lodge, a town about 48 miles from Columbus. He remembered his first meeting with Owen when ag teachers from around the area were getting together to work on the fairgrounds, and Owen “was the s.o.b. who didn’t show up.”
Turns out, Haagenstad said, Owen was still used to working on a college schedule and showed up at 9 p.m. instead of 9 a.m.
“Don was a self-made individual,” Haagenstad added. “Ninety-nine percent of them who knew him, liked him. … He shot from the hip.”
Mark Lalum, general manager of CHS, an agricultural coop in Kalispell, was a colleague of Owen when Lalum taught ag in Kalispell.
“He was a really nice guy, a quiet guy to some degree,” Lalum described Owen. “But Don was always not afraid to say what he was thinking, but not in a mean way, never in a mean way. He’d say what really needed to be said.”
Tim Jenkins taught with Owen for 24 years in Columbus. The two men enjoyed being out in the hills, hunting, fishing, and backpacking. They also floated the river in a boat they co-owned. In the fall, Jenkins said, they always went fishing at Canyon Ferry Reservoir near Helena.
Lalum noted, “Don was very strong-willed with his students. He liked things right and wanted his students to do a good job. He ran a really strong FFA program. … always very competitive.”
Ron Kuehn, a former student of Owen from Columbus, said when it came to FFA, Columbus High School was a dominant program in the mid 70’s with lots of state FFA officers and even Star Agribusiness winners.
“He (Owen) was a little bit stern … but fair, genuine, no politics and he didn’t play favorites,” Kuehn said.
He remembered being interviewed for a state FFA office. One of the questions was whether he would smoke or drink while wearing his FFA jacket, something strictly forbidden.
“I said no,” Kuehn said. “They asked me why, and I said it was because Mr. Owen would kill me.”
Kuehn said the other kids laughed, but he was serious.
Another of Owen’s students talked to Robert Rosenbaum, a friend of Owen and also a Charlo area trucker who hauled Owen’s cows. The student recalled the first day of class. Owen explained about the tools in the shop.
“If you break a tool, the first time I might understand, and I might not.” Owen stated. “But the second time not your mom, your dad or even God will get you back into my class.”
Another of Owen’s teacherly attributes was his sense of smell. Kuehn added, “The guy had a nose like a bloodhound.”
He said Owen would be sitting in the back at his desk when the students filed into class and wouldn’t even look up, but he’d say, “Johnson spit out your gum or Miller, get that snoose out of your mouth.”
But in the middle of the summer, Kuehn said he’d be out irrigating or building fence and along would come Owen with a couple of cold sodas just to see how things were going.
Plus he had a quirky sense of humor, Kuehn said. Owen used to call his brother collect late at night on his birthday. After his brother accepted the call, Owen would say happy birthday and then hang up.
Owen was frugal, too, Kuehn said. All the time Owen taught in Columbus, he lived in a basement apartment about a block from the school and drove a 65 Impala forever. In fact, the last time Kuehn visited Owen at his home the Impala was sitting in the driveway.
“Don was extremely dedicated to the kids and was always ready to help anybody,” Jenkins explained. “The Columbus FFA program was noted throughout the state.”
Although it’s politically incorrect now, Owen organized a slave auction as a fundraiser for the FFA programs. Farmers would come in and bid on FFA kids for a day or two of labor. Owen would follow up on all 50 kids to make sure they did what they were supposed to do for the farmers.
“In the world of ag teachers, it’s a big loss,” Lalum said.
Haagenstad said, “Don made Montana history with the kids he turned out of that FFA program.”
Owen was involved in FFA during his high school years in St. Ignatius, serving as the Montana FFA state 3rd vice president in 1956 and 1957. After graduation, Owen attended Montana State University, getting both a bachelors and masters degree in agricultural education. After he began teaching ag, he was president of the Montana Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association in 1969 and 1970 and received his Honorary American FFA degree in 1970.
In an email, Bill Jimmerson, state FFA Advisor, said, “Don will be remembered for many things, especially his dedication to this students and his professionalism.”
In addition to his heavy involvement in school and FFA, Owen was also a winemaker, although in later years he had to quit drinking.
“He made gallons and gallons of wine,” Jenkins said.
“Don loved to make wine,” Haagenstad remembered. “He could make it out of carrots, whatever, just about anything you had.”
When Owen returned to the Flathead, Jenkins said Owen’s father brought a stock truck down to fill with household goods to move to the ranch. Jenkins and Owen filled the truck about a third of the way with gallons of wine.
“Don’s dad was impressed,” Lalum said, adding that Owen made good home made beer, too.
Kuehn noted that Owen made moonshine and showed other area folks how to set up a still.
Owen had lots of skills since he was an ag teacher, and he’d help the farmer or rancher to get old combines or tractors running.
Kuehn flew home and he and his two brothers, Steve and Randy, took Owen out to the local steakhouse for dinner when he retired.
After Owen returned to the home place between Ronan and Charlo, “he pretty much slid under the radar,” Haagenstad explained, spending his energy on his cows and calves. “He got his fill of politics and parents and people and schoolboards and superintendents.”
“We (his friends) would try to drag him off the farm,” Lalum said, “but we just couldn’t get him to leave.”
Leonard Lombardi, a friend who attended MSU with Owen, agreed. “After he retired, he rarely left home.”
But his friends continued to visit him, even if he couldn’t be budged. According to them Owen will be remembered as an excellent agriculture educator, (something you can’t always learn in school, Lalum explained) a good friend willing to speak his mind, a rancher, a winemaker and an outdoorsman — the kind of man we need more of.
Funeral services will be held at the Mission Valley Methodist Church on Highway 93 at 10:30 a.m. on March 26.
