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LEFT: Ostrom pictured with his wife, Iris, his daughters, Heidi and Wendy, and sons, Shannon and Clark. RIGHT: Ostrom pictured with Montana U.S. Sen. Mike Mansfield. COURTESY PHOTOS
for permanent protection.
Another of his passions is education, though
he never finished high school. He helped shape both the University of Montana and Flathead Valley Community College. After serving over 20 years as a member of UM’s President’s Cit- izen Council, he received the university’s Dis- tinguished Alumni Award, though he never graduated. In Kalispell, Ostrom served on the first advisory board for FVCC and helped orga- nize the newfound school in 1966 before later serving on the board of trustees. Four years ago, the college honored him with its Mentor Award, which recognizes a community leader whose leadership, vision and integrity inspire all.
“His vision of a local college in a community like the Flathead Valley has benefited women and men seeking to better their lives and has significantly impacted the economy in North- west Montana,” FVCC President Jane Karas said at the time.
After helping the upstart KOFI radio sta- tion develop into a successful source of news, music and commentary, he bought the Kalis- pell Weekly News in 1974 and built it into the largest weekly in Montana with a circulation over 12,000 people.
For his civic work, including establishing the United Way and other community organi- zations, he has received the highest local hon- ors, including Kalispell’s Great Chief Award, and the outspoken respect of former governors and sheriffs, including the late Jim Dupont, who wrote a letter of recommendation for Ostrom’s induction into the Montana Broad- casters Hall of Fame.
Ostrom’s influence and reputation have even stretched beyond this valley, demanding attention from Congressional lawmakers.
“Anyone who has come to know George Ostrom through his radio broadcasts, his pho- tographs, his writing, or who has been fortu- nate enough as I have to spend time personally with him has come away with a better under- standing of the American West and Montana in particular,” former Sen. Max Baucus said in a speech to Congress on July 22, 1998, to cele- brate Ostrom’s 70th birthday.
For that memorable birthday, a grand party was held at the Outlaw Inn with a couple hun- dred people in attendance, including promi- nent community leaders and statewide digni- taries. Mike Mansfield, the famed U.S. senator from Montana and the nation’s longest serv- ing Senate Majority Leader, even passed along a letter wishing Ostrom a happy birthday.
front porch, he finds himself appraising his life more and more. How does a man measure him- self? What’s his legacy? What are his greatest accomplishments?
Ask Ostrom, and most of what he wants to talk about is not himself.
“My greatest accomplishment, what I’m proudest of, is my family,” he says.
“That’s the thing that means the most to me.”
He can still recite the very moment he met his wife, Iris. He knows the exact date of their first date – April 23, 1957. A year later, on April 12, they were married and still are 57 years later.
“That’s the smartest thing I ever did,” he says.
He can’t talk enough about his two daugh- ters — Wendy and Heidi — and two sons — Shannon and Clark. Flip through any of his books, and the pictures are mostly of his fam- ily and friends, the true focal point of his atten- tion in front of grand sceneries and spectacu- lar vistas.
Now his grandchildren are the ones he mostly wants to talk about, of them adventur- ing in Glacier Park, which he introduced them to, and swimming in Iceberg Lake or fighting wildfires, like he once did.
“I don’t know if it’s hereditary,” he says. “I don’t know. But that can get in your blood.”
Sitting on his front porch, or inside his Kalispell home, he tells all types of stories — funny, happy, tragic. The stories can follow a roundabout path and seem lost, but they always end up connecting together like pieces of a puzzle. The puzzle eventually reveals a stunning portrait.
Now about that log.
[email protected]
“He’s had a remarkable life,” Brian Ken- nedy, who owned the Hungry Horse News from 978 to 1999, said. “All the stuff that he has seen
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in this valley alone, he could fill books with.”
pproaching 87, Ostrom is still at it. His column, marked by the familiar caricature drawn by artist Frank Hagel, still appears weekly in the Hungry Horse
News. These witty, oftentimes humorous but sometimes serious pieces have appeared in the newspaper founded by Mel Ruder since 1962, when Ostrom was working for Metcalf. Ruder enjoyed Ostrom’s perspective and style and talked him into writing a “Hello Hungry Horse” column. His columns went on to win state and national awards.
He still can be heard on the airwaves, appearing regularly on KGEZ’s morning show, spinning tale after tale that proves he still has the gift of gab.
But these days, sitting in his home or on his
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