Lee "Butch" Hathaway

Lee “Butch” Hathaway, 79 of Hamilton passed away on February 22, 2017 at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.

Lee was born March 24, 1937 in Stevensville, MT to Ben and Maude Hathaway.  He was the youngest of 11 children and the only one born in Montana.  Lee attended Corvallis and Hamilton Schools, grated in the “Class of 56”.  He then moved to Oregon to work with his brother-in-law.  Let met and married Jennie Huntsman, they had 3 children, Brian, Janet and Blake.  In 1959, Lee was drafted into the Army and served as a Teletype Operator Specialist.  He was stationed with the 304th Signal Battalion in Korea until his honorable discharge in 1961.

Lee trained and worked as a John Deere heavy equipment diesel mechanic for over 25 years throughout the northwest.  He managed the “First” John Deere store in Bend, Oregon.  Le was interested in many sports and active in track, boxing, dirt bike racing, rodeos and Boy Scouts.  He returned to Montana in 1978 and took a job at Davies, Inc. in Missoula.  He also was on their bowling team.

When he met his wife, Thea, he joined the F.O.E. #32 Aerie in Missoula and participated on their bowling team.  They enjoyed playing on dart and pool teams, dancing and winning contests.  Lee lived life to the fullest, in later years he often commented, “If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of my body!”

He collected various items of his favorite things; John Wayne, NASCAR Racing, John Deere, and of course, Griz and the Seattle Seahawks.  He loved animals throughout his years. Lee “Butch” will be much missed by his many friends and family.

He was preceded in death by his parents, 6 sisters, 4 brothers and his son, Blake.

Surviving include his wife of 38 years, Thea; son, Brian (Sherry) of Hamilton; daughter, Janet; step-daughters, Denise (Steve) Bata of Florida; grandchildren, Brianna and Brooke Hathaway of Helena, Rory (Rebekah) Schneider and Steffen (Alex) Schneider of Connecticut, Tiffany (Adam) Munoz of Iowa, Kira (Kyle) Warmuth of Minnesota, Shanna (Ty) Lynch of Nevada; 2 great granddaughters and several nieces and nephews.

A graveside service with Military Honors will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, March 3rd  at Riverview Cemetery in Hamilton. 

The family suggests memorials to the Bitterroot Humane Association.