Ledger Looking Back 25 Years: 12/10/1997

December 10, 1997

John Jardine, 75, one of Whitehall’s most cherished and prominent residents, died in a plane crash on Sunday, December 7th, when the airplane he was in collided in mid-air with another private airplane about 10 miles north of Bozeman. Jardine, who retired from his Whitehall law practice in 1992 and moved to Red Lodge, was a virtual institution in Whitehall.

Jardine was a former Town of Whitehall attorney, a state legislator from the area, and a Whitehall State Bank (now Rocky Mountain Bank) board of directors member for 37 years, many of them as chairman. Jardine was also bank president for three years and operated an active and successful law practice for four decades in Whitehall.

The Whitehall Board of Trustees tabled a motion to demolish the old school building to give residents interested in preserving the structure time to develop at least the beginnings of a restoration plan for the structure. The school was built in 1919 and was used until 1995, prior to the construction of the new middle school.

Scott Funeral Home, which had been operated by the Scott family in Whitehall for over 60 years, was sold to Keith Kneeland of Sheridan. Kneeland, a graduate of the mortuary school in Oregon, is the son of Harlow Kneeland, who has operated K&L Mortuaries in the Jefferson Valley since 1964.

Sue-Ellen Downs, a Waterloo resident with 20 years of office management experience, was appointed the new Whitehall clerk/treasurer at a special town council meeting. Valerie Anderson of Whitehall was appointed to the deputy clerk position.

In a calm and productive meeting that marked Neil Gallagher’s final session as mayor, the Whitehall Town Council settled on a plan to fix the leaking town water tank and learned more about plans to move or remodel the Whitehall library.

A warning shot allegedly fired by Whitehall outfitter Gordon Sampson toward a Vigilante Electric Cooperative meter reader was investigated to determine whether or not charges would be filed, according to Madison County Attorney Bob Zenker.

Whitehall Student of the Week was junior Clint Wheeler. Clint was nominated for his work in the Creative Writing class. LeeAnn Gallagher writes that Clint works hard at improving his writing and always does his assignments. Clint is the son of Nancy and Tom Wheeler and has plans to attend a technical school. He enjoys mechanics and football.

Whitehall Athlete of the Week was the Lady Trojan team members Jessical Bell, Becky Dale (manager), Krystin Feight, Kim Franich, Heidi Hemund, Kietra Mabbott, CoCo Martinson, Kate Mulligan, Misty Phillips (manager), Carla Poxleitner, Lacie Richards, Cortney Smith, Heather Smith, Kristin Sunderland, and Cassie Weightman.