Donald Winston II

1931 - 2022

Donald Winston II

Donald Winston II lived a long and incredible life. He died peacefully at home in Missoula, Montana on March 2nd, just shy of his 91st birthday.

Don was born in Washington, DC on April 4, 1931. Shortly thereafter, his parents, Frederick S. Winston and Elizabeth M. Winston, returned to their hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Don spent his youth. He attended The Blake School and spent his summers on Lake Minnetonka. Don graduated from Williams College in 1953 with a degree in geology. After earning his PhD in geology from University of Texas at Austin, Don accepted a junior faculty position at the University of Montana in1961.

In the summer of 1960, Don attended the International Geological Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the days after the congress, he met a wonderful woman who captured his heart. Don's years of persistent attention paid off when Bente B. Nielsen agreed to visit him in Montana in 1966. They were married a year later and started a family. Tor was born in 1968 and Francisca in 1974. The family originally lived in the Jocko Canyon, east of Arlee, and later split their time between the Jocko and Missoula.

Don adored and admired Bente. Life with Don was never boring, and he was kind and sweet - presenting a small bouquet of the first Jocko buttercups every spring. Don and Bente each shared their own joys with the other – Don became a passable chess player and Bente learned to steer canoes and schooners. Don was an early and steadfast supporter of Bente's life project, Sussex School. For that, Bente is forever grateful.

Don was a loving and supportive father. In the Jocko, early days with the family were filled with hiking, fishing, cross country skiing, gardening, bedtime reading, watching the chickadees feed, and home cooked breakfasts (eggs and pancakes) every morning. He encouraged each of his children (and then grandchildren) to set their own course and do what they loved. For Don, that was geology.

Don's far-reaching research contributions and dedication to geology made him one of Montana's finest and most productive scientists. With his students and colleagues, he developed a clear understanding of the previously enigmatic Belt Supergroup, a fifty thousand foot-thick group of billion and a half year-old sandstones, siltstones and carbonate rocks that now cover much of western Montana, parts of Idaho and western Canada. Don and his colleagues identified and explained Belt sedimentary structures and the processes and environments that formed the rocks.

As an avowed field geologist, Don was always on the move. And where he went others followed, if only to see something worth seeing and to hear Don exclaim "Christ Commander", "Sh**house Rat", or "What do these climbing ripples tell us?" Don's energy is legendary; his body was impervious to any kind of weather. Countless students have trudged with Don across a coastal mudflat, over a desert playa, or up a steep mountain to see one more outcrop before collapsing into camp. Those days ended with song, hearty laughter, and camaraderie around a campfire. The mornings dawned with whiskey and raw eggs to fuel another day.

Don will be remembered as an inspiring teacher and role-model for budding geologists. With characteristic enthusiasm, Don shared his ideas openly and honestly with decades of students, whose theses and dissertations were subjected to many rounds of Don's editorial green ink. He taught what good science by good people should look like, arguably his greatest contribution to the profession of geology.

Don's love of geology and exploration took him all over the world. For a time, he and Bente sailed a three-masted schooner in the Baltic Sea while Don spent a sabbatical at Blindern University in Oslo and researched the geology of the fjords. Later, geology took Don to the playa lakes of Mexico, the outback of Australia, the wild rivers of Siberia, and - for over 20 years - the inscrutable sand ripples of Netarts Bay, Oregon. Many trips were shared with Bente and the family: remote villages in China, a congress in Moscow, the sand dunes of Namibia, and the mountains of Peru. To extend his field research well into retirement, Don raised a herd of llamas, which he packed into the mountains of western Montana and beyond. From his many endeavors and travels came great stories, which Don loved to tell.

Don's other passions were hunting and music, especially folk music. As a boy in Minnesota, Don hunted ducks with his father and his Uncle Chuck, and Don grew into an avid and skilled duck hunter. In Montana, the start of the hunting season signaled the end of the geology field season, and for many years Don would decamp to hunt along the Missouri River near Fort Benton. His love of the mountains and hunting led Don to enthusiastically support local and national environmental and conservation causes.

Playing the banjo also brought Don great joy, whether he was picking out a tune to relax by himself or was "making noise" around a campfire with fellow musicians. At his famous "Belt Bash" and 4th of July parties, Saint Pauli Girl beer would flow and Don would sing "Worried Man Blues", "The Wabash Cannon Ball", and countless more folk songs. When he inevitably belted out the colorful refrain to "Sam Hall", everyone knew Don Winston was having a good time.

Don is survived by his wife of 54 years, Bente, and his two children, Tor (wife Linda) and Francisca (husband Karlton Gross), both of Arlington, Virginia, and three grandchildren, Lea Winston, Erik Winston, and Maya Gross. He is also survived by his brother Frederick Winston (wife Eleanor) of Wayzata, Minnesota, and family, as well as Cindy Thompson of St. Paul, Minnesota, partner of Don's late brother Neil. Finally, he is survived by his sweet golden retriever, Kai: "The best dog I've ever had".

Don was buried on the family property in the Jocko Canyon amid the fruit trees that he planted years ago. A memorial service for family and close friends will be held at a later date this summer.

The family wishes to send heartfelt thanks to the amazing caregivers from Harvest Home Care, Home Instead, and the Hospice staff from Partners in Home Care. Contributions may be made to The Wilderness Society or to the Donald Winston II Memorial Fund for Field Science at Sussex School.