David Henry Andrew III

David Henry Andrew III

David Henry Andrew III, 92, of Missoula, Montana died Sunday morning December 27, 2020 from heart failure at Missoula Community Hospital.

Dave was born March 4, 1928 in Lincoln, Nebraska, the oldest of two children of David H. Andrew Jr. and Geraldine Bell Stewart Andrew. Three years later in 1931, the family moved back to Three Forks, MT where they owned a home. Dave was fond of telling stories about how his mother drove alone cross country with two small children and their dog Lucky because his father had gone ahead by train to secure a job. His father became the postmaster in Three Forks and Dave and his sister, Janette, grew up there.

Dave attended Three Forks Schools for all of his grade school and high school years, reading ahead in the encyclopedia while waiting for the teacher to provide another lesson. During WWII, Dave drove the dray truck making deliveries of coal, oil, dry goods, and lumber for Wiggins & Co. Dave and his friend Robert Jones hopped the train for Butte in 1945 to join the service before the war was over. Instead they were intercepted at the train station by their fathers who had driven with the highway patrol to reach Butte before they did. Dave graduated in May 1946, with five friends and enlisted in the US Navy, training at NTC Chicago and then serving as a Yeoman in NAS Seattle at Sandpoint until his discharge in 1948.

Dave returned to Montana and enrolled in the Montana State College in Bozeman. He was an active member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, chapter Epsilon Delta. He was the organizing coach for the MSU fencing team, drama productions, and student government. Dave took his commission in the Air Force Reserve after ROTC, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. He graduated in 1952 with a teaching degree in Speech and Drama. For a number of years, under the mentorship of Dr. Burt Hansen, Dave was an integral part of Lewis and Clark Pageants in Three Forks depicting the arrival of Lewis and Clark at the headwaters of the Missouri. Halfway through his senior year, Dave was approached by the Belgrade school board to teach a 7th grade class, "who had run off three teachers so far that year."

In the fall of 1954, after the mill levy had passed for the new South Avenue Building, Dave moved to Missoula to teach speech and drama at Missoula County High School. He coached thespians and directed the annual Christmas Cantata and numerous plays including a memorable adaptation of "The Great Big Doorstep". In 1955 Dave, along with five other coaches across Montana, chartered the first National Forensics League chapters in Montana and he went on to earn a Double Diamond award for coaching in 1973 and in 1990 was inducted into the Montana Forensics Educators' Hall of Fame. Dave estimated he taught over 15,000 students until his retirement in 1984.

Dave's teaching in Missoula was interrupted by a USAID request from President William Tubman of Liberia in western Africa to produce and direct a pageant commemorating the 100th anniversary of the country. Dave received a one year Fulbright appointment to teach English at the University of Liberia in Monrovia and left for Africa in June. The February pageant was such a success that the President ordered a second. However, news got back to Missoula that Mr. Andrew was a bit homesick and former student Gloria Bush began corresponding with Dave and occasionally sending cookies. Dave returned from Africa in July, 1962 and married Gloria Bush Wednesday, October 24th in time to "take a honeymoon to Great Falls for the MEA convention on Thursday and Friday and visit Three Forks on the weekend." That next spring Dave and Gloria bought land on the Folsom Ranch in the Rattlesnake north of Missoula and broke ground in June with a loan based on "your work with the contractor". The couple moved into their unfinished home July 20, 1963 where he lived and visited from his porch with passersby, dogs, horses, deer, and friends until his death.

Dave was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church on December 19th, 1973 when the church burned and he was instrumental in rebuilding the church both by parliamentary procedure and "by hanging 3,000 pounds of sheetrock with my head". Dave was proud to have been a certified Babcock tester for the creamery in Three Forks and to have made award winning buttermilk and ice cream at the Montana State Fair in 1950 and 1951. After retiring Dave proudly drove for Beach Transportation for 16 school years and 15 fire seasons. Dave was a two-time Past Master of Harmony Lodge #49 and received his 50 year pin in April 1997. For more than 40 years Dave met for coffee at JB's Big Boy and later Ruby's Cafe with characters such as Aaron, Don, Bill, Ernie, Yogi, and Mac. He loved to recite "If" by Rudyard Kipling and "The Cremation of Sam MacGee" by Robert W. Service. He shared novels with Pat Watson and porch talks with Don Harbaugh and Les Marcum.

Dave was preceded in death by his parents David H. and Geraldine Stewart Andrew Jr., his sister Janet Feldt, and his niece Brenda Ford. He will be remembered by his wife Gloria Jean Bush Andrew, sons David (Cady) Andrew IV and Ross Stewart Andrew, niece Betty (Joe) Wilson, nephew Todd Stovall, and grandchildren Finley, Fiona, Neva, Lucy, David V, and Gillian.

A celebration of Dave's life will be held at 11:00am on Monday, June 14th 2021 at the First Presbyterian Church 235 S 5th St W, Missoula with a storytelling reception to follow. Internment will follow at 2:30pm in the Western Montana State Veterans Cemetery 1911 Tower St, Missoula. Those who desire may make a donation in memory of Dave to the "Ed Hogan House" through the First Presbyterian Church.