Clayton R. Linebarger

1941 - 2022

Clayton R. Linebarger

May 21, 1941 - Nov. 22, 2022

HELENA - Clayton R. Linebarger, 81, passed away on November 22, 2022 at St. Peter's Hospital. He was born in Jordan, MT, on May 21, 1941, to Pearl (Graham) and Elmer Linebarger. He grew up in Fort Peck, MT, a where he spoke fondly of his childhood as a Fort Pecker.

At age 12, Clayton and his family moved to Helena, MT. In 1959, he graduated from Helena High School where he was a tremendous athlete earning eight varsity letters in football, basketball, and track, and an American Legion Baseball short stop where his batting average record lasted 52 years.

Clayton, an All-State football player, was a 1958 Teen Magazine All-American and played in the East-West Shrine game. His full-ride football scholarship at Montana State ended with a knee injury his freshman year.

Not only were his athletic accomplishments recognized as a 2004 Helena Sports Hall of Fame inductee, but his huge personality was also well-known as his 1959 Bengal classmates chose him to give the graduation speech. Clayton delivered the speech completely by memory and he could still recite it many years later.

Clayton married Betty (Smith) Rowe and they raised three kids, Duane, Clete, and Katie, while still in college. He worked as a campus cop and earned his education degree from MSU in 1972. They later divorced. His children enjoyed spending summers with their dad and he traveled great distances to attend their many sporting events during the school year.

After college, he served as the State Recreational Director where he co-founded the original Governor's Cup Race in 1974. He also worked as a Farm Bureau insurance agent, State Fair manager, and a Universal Athletic sales rep. He was employed by the Montana Department of Transportation until his retirement in 2009.

Clayton's love of sports continued with coaching and playing slow pitch softball for 34 years, coaching Helena youth baseball and football, and as an assistant coach for the Helena High fastpitch program.

He volunteered as the 1977 National High School Rodeo Awards Committee Chairman, East-West Shrine game selection committee, Helena School Board member, and a starter for many high school track meets. When it came to community service, Clayton was most proud of his fund-raising abilities that helped build softball complexes in Bozeman and Helena, the Frank Ursich weight room, the Frank Mihelish softball field, and the Vigilante Stadium all-weather track.

Clayton was a one-of-a-kind guy with a great sense of humor and an infectious laugh. He loved his family, the Helena High Bengals and MSU Bobcats, going to rodeos and horse races, fishing and hunting, playing cards and teasing family at holidays, drinking a g-ball back in the day, and telling a good joke. He always had a friendly smile when he ran into old friends and he would strike up a conversation with complete strangers usually with a comment about their hat ugly Griz hat or asking if they used to ride his school bus.

Preceding him in death were his parents; a sister, Eileen Heath; and a sister, Deloris Freyler. Survivors include his sons: Duane Rowe and Clete Linebarger (Sherri) of Bozeman; a daughter, Katie Vandolah (Doug) of Choteau; his grandchildren: Tay Rowe, Conner and Lexi Linebarger, Lindsey Vandolah and Ashley (Brett) Kuca; and great-grandchild, Millie Kuca.

He is also survived by Candy Savage of Helena; and her daughters: Dionne Brass of Helena, and Gail Bowen (Michael), of Portland, OR, and their children: Leo, Henry, and Samuel.

Clayton will also be missed by his extended family, several nieces and nephews, and his many great life-long friends, too numerous to mention.

Memorials can be sent to the Helena Sports Hall of Fame, PO Box 6302, Helena, MT, 59604. A celebration of Clayton's life will be held at a later date.