Richard L. French, 82

Richard French, 82, passed away in Bozeman Highgate Assisted Living of COVID-19 on Saturday, January 16, 2021. He was born in Glasgow, MT on May 6, 1938, to Glen & Winifred (Hansen) French. They lived in a tar paper shack the first year. Then the family moved to Portland, OR for a few years. He enjoyed movies in Portland by paying with milk bottle lids. In 1946 the family moved to the farm in Redstone, MT. He attended a one room schoolhouse for grade school and graduated from a high school in Plentywood. He worked at a dime store there while wintering with his grandparents. He started college at MSU-Bozeman, but later transferred to Washington State University.

Between colleges he taught country school close to the farm for one year, and also sold pots and pans.

He worked at Boeing during college. After graduation he accepted a job with Control Data in the Space & Defense Division, which made the most powerful computers at that time. The division in which he worked created control systems for projects like Polaris & Poseidon, submarine missile fire control, formation drone control, Apollo Space & other similar projects.

Dick had a softball team who he recruited to play in the leagues. He bowled in a company league and shot trap. He organized an investment club as well.

He married Diana Polikowsky on October 28, 1967 in Minneapolis, MN and they had three sons – Rick, Dustin (Tracie), Brian (soulmate Miranda Foley) and grandson Gavin French.

In 1976 he got a job back in Montana in Colstrip for Montana Power. He worked at Montana Power in Butte until he retired. When his boys were young, he coached them in baseball. He loved the game. He'd yell "Rock & Fire" to the pitchers and "big sticks" to the boys up to bat. Later he played in a Butte team combined of Whitehall and Butte men and he also umpired. After he retired, he joined an "old auzzie" team – a slow pitch team.

In 1993 Dick met Edie Schneider in Billings and later married the same year.

Dick was bored easily so he read a lot of books, played bridge and joined a forest fire team in Hamilton. Then he came home to add on to his home in Whitehall.

He is survived by his wife Edie, sister Judy (Tom) Mathes, and two nephews in Harrison, Ohio. His three sons also survive him, as well as his extended step-family, Tim (Kerri) Schneider in Denver, Lynette (Jack) Risner of Baggs, WY; Edie (Jonathan) Gonitzki in Joliet, MT; and six step-grandchildren who knew him fondly as "Grandpa".

Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 23rd at 1:30 p.m. at the Zion Lutheran Church in Whitehall, MT with Pastor Mavis officiating.

Interment will immediately follow at the Whitehall Cemetery.