Arthur Montana

Arthur Montana passed August 8, 2025, aged 90, at home near Lone Rock, WI, in the loving company of family and friends.
Born and raised in small towns in Montana, Art served four years in the Air Force during the Korean War, much of it as a flight engineer on B-36s. After receiving his bachelor's degree at the Montana School of Mines, he completed a PhD in geochemistry at Pennsylvania State University and postdoctoral studies at the University of Chicago. He returned to Penn State as a faculty member and later began a notable career at the University of California Los Angeles where he was a professor and eventually chair of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences as well as a member of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. He conducted award winning research on geophysical processes of planetary interiors and mentored many promising young scientists, leaving a legacy that he treasured. An early retirement left him time to pursue animal rescue as well as environmental causes including reclamation of former mining sites near Santa Fe, NM.
His mantra was "Better on Down the Road," and with his wife Asenath, he was fortunate to live in beautiful places in California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wisconsin. It's fair to say that Wisconsin was not his very favorite state (no mountains!), but he enjoyed wild places everywhere and spent happy hours walking trails in Wisconsin's natural areas and observing wildlife at his rural home.
Art loved good music, road trips, long distance running and mountain climbing, trains, close friends, his family, and getting a rise out of people. He read slowly and thought deeply and was devoted to learning. He believed that anything worth doing was worth overdoing, sometimes to the chagrin of family and friends. A vegetarian for more than five decades, he greatly enjoyed the many dogs, cats, chickens, and donkeys who shared his life.
Art is survived by his wife, Asenath LaRue; sons Scott Boettcher (Aprile) of Pasadena, CA, and Curt Boettcher (Cheri) of Taylorsville, GA; grandson Dakota Boettcher (fiancé Hannah), granddaughters Chenoa Runningfox and Natane Jordan (Trent), all of Pasadena, CA, and Jen Dysart (Dustin) of Taylorsville, GA. He had seven great-grandchildren: Bella Villa, Alexa and Matthew Christine; Brayden and Easton Boettcher, and newly born Lou Jean Boettcher. Other survivors include his sister-in-law Roxy Boettcher, niece Donya Parrish, nephew Rodney Boettcher, and cousin Jack Boettcher; Asenath's daughter Andrea Salmon, grandchildren Ashly Saathoff (Michael) and Marshall Durick, great granddaughters Layla and April Saathoff; brother-in-law Jonathan (Connie) LaRue; and long-term friends James Zidell, Russ Deal, and Peter Wyllie. He will also be missed by his donkeys Sophie and Billy, whose care kept him healthy and happy for a very long time.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Mildred Boettcher, sister Irene, brother Dick, and many friends.
At Art's request, no funeral is planned. He would like you to think of him if you visit the mountains of Montana or travel anywhere west by train. Memorial donations may be made to Longhopes Donkey Rescue, Bennett, CO or to the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. The Pratt Funeral and Cremation Service is assisting the family with their arrangements.