John M. “Jack” Dietrich

1924-2007

John M. “Jack” Dietrich died on May 21, 2007, at age 82.  Jack was a full-time husband, father, and grandfather, a retired lawyer, a part-time rancher, a philanthropist, a conservationist and a promoter of education.  He will be remembered for his love of the state, his support for its institutions, his pursuit of excellence, his self-deprecating sense of humor, his engaged humanism, and his deep religious faith.

Jack was born on August 17, 1924 in Helena , MT , son of Maurice and Helen Dietrich.  An only child, he spent many summer months on the Prescott family ranch near the Highline’s Sweetgrass Hills.  There he learned the language of ranching from uncles Harold and Allen Prescott, both of whom reflected Montana ’s nineteenth-century ranching days. 

He excelled in math and chemistry at Powell County High School , graduated valedictorian in 1942, and took the train to Stanford University that fall.  The US Air Corps interrupted his freshman year and trained him in a state-of-the-art course in the fledgling science of meteorology at the Universities of Washington and Chicago.  The Air Force assigned him to the air transport command in Casablanca and Tripoli , North Africa .  His duties included billeting airmen coming and going from India , where airmen flew “The Hump,” the treacherous route over the Himalayas into China . (He loved to relate  the story of Madame Chiang Kai-Shek’s calm demeanor during an air raid in Tripoli, the sole “lady” remaining seated, calmly sipping her tea, while he and other GI’s dove under mess hall tables.)

Returning on a Liberty Ship in 1946, he enrolled at the University of Montana as a second quarter senior, thanks to the education from the Air Force. He also began taking courses at the law school.  On June 19, 1948, he married Anne Kiefer, also a Deer Lodge resident. She helped put him through his last years of law school.  He graduated from law school in December 1949, was admitted to the Montana bar in 1950, and was elected Powell County Attorney in the fall of 1950 and maintained a private practice simultaneously.  Anne successfully avoided her job as his secretary after three short months, becoming pregnant with the first of their five children.

In 1955, he and Anne moved from Deer Lodge to Billings , to join the Coleman, Jameson, and Lamey firm, the predecessor to Crowley , Haughey, Hanson, Toole and Dietrich.  Jack practiced actively into the 1990s and remained of counsel thereafter.  He became an expert in agricultural estate planning, which led to related fields of law, including real estate and closely held corporations.  He handled some of the largest ranch sales in the history of the state.  He developed a strong “relationship based” practice, becoming the “confidant” to Montana ’s largest ranch families, accumulating many clients who became life-long friends. 

In 1964, Jack and Vince Carpenter purchased the Frank Mackay ranch and formed the Bar Diamond Ranch, north of Billings .  From 1964 to 1968, he managed the ranch while practicing law, but was relieved of this task when Vince and his family moved from Minnesota to Montana to take over its active management.  Jack and Vince remained active and close business partners until Jack’s death.

Jack combined a mastery of technical expertise with true grace of character in three of law’s most complex areas: estate planning, real estate and corporate and business matters.  He achieved an AV rating, a lawyer’s highest rating possible.  Jack was President of the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association, President of the Yellowstone County Bar Association, and a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estates Lawyers (formerly the American College of Probate Counsel). He also received the Jameson Award, the highest honor for professionalism from the Montana Bar Association, and two of the highest honors from the University of Montana , the Pantzer Award and the Neil Bucklew Presidential Service Award.

Jack would be the first to observe that his success was due to the unassuming love and support of his wife Anne.  In addition, he attributed his success to those who preceded him in his practice area (Art Lamey, James Kilbourne) and those who assisted him, including his longtime secretary, Ladonna Sherman.  He also benefited greatly from other staff, his partners at the Crowley Firm, and the many associates whom he mentored.

During his long practice, Jack served on various governors’ committees for the revision of corporate law, probate law and the restructuring to the Montana University System.  He was a director of the Billings Symphony and Choral Society, Yellowstone Art Center, Deaconess Research Institute and Rocky Mountain College .  He also served on the board of the Deaconess Medical Center and served for many years as a director of the First Interstate Bank.

A love for Yellowstone Park spurred Jack to help form and later become chairman of the Yellowstone Park Foundation, an organization supplementing government funding of “the Park.”  In later years he befriended several Park Superintendents and naturalists.  He cross-country skied each year for the last several decades with friends (“the boys of Winter”) and Park administrators.

Jack was a strong supporter of the University of Montana and the UM Law School and helped promote various fund drives, including the most recent Building Initiative for the Law School . He served as the President of the UM Foundation Board of Trustees, and his thoughts drifted toward Missoula at the beginning and end of each school year.  A lifelong learner, he always looked forward to continuing legal education.

From 1960 to the time of his death, Jack and Anne spent many of their leisure hours in Red Lodge at their cabin, and Jack enjoyed his involvement with the Red Lodge community.  The mountain setting of Red Lodge reminded him of his native Western Montana .  He loved to hike in the aspen groves in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains , particularly in the fall of the year.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost

His character was permanent, but his life temporary.  Perhaps like the gold of fall aspen leaves in the Beartooth foothills, Jack’s memory can be renewed this spring through the celebration of his life.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Helen and Maurice, of Deer Lodge, MT.

Jack is survived by his wife, Anne, and his children and grandchildren: Paul of Missoula (grandson Christian), Janet of Billings (husband Dan, grandchildren Elizabeth, Ellen, Zoe), David of Billings (wife Jan, grandchildren Rachel, Natalie), Suzy of Bozeman (husband Ryan, grandchildren Megan, Patrick, Bailey), and Katja of Gardiner , MT (grandson Jacob).

Memorials may be given to:

The Billings Public Education Foundation;

The Yellowstone Park Association;

The Yellowstone Art Museum ;

The University of Montana Foundation; or

Another charity of your choice.

A celebration of Jack’s life will be held at the Mayflower Congregational Church, at the corner of Rehberg and Poly Drive , at 11am, Saturday, May 26.  Reception to follow at the Church.