BOMBER MEMORIAL

JEFF TOLSON ~ Class of 1973
1954 - December 6, 2010

~



COLUMBIA FALLS, MT - Before falling on hard times, Jeff Tolson made his way in the workaday world as a long-haul truck driver, roving the country with a terrier named Pepper at his side and an effortless smile on his face. Tolson happily endured months on the road and relished those nomadic adventures, spending his nights al fresco in the warmer weather, or curled up with Pepper in his cab at neon-lit truck stops.

When work slowed to a crawl and eventually ground to a halt, Tolson found purchase in the Flathead Valley as a popcorn maker, falling heir to a secret and irresistible German recipe for kettle corn. The formula was passed along by a popcorn maker who deemed Tolson a worthy successor, due in part to his easy-going smile and enthusiasm for the esoteric craft. The confectioner agreed to train Tolson, who in turn guarded the secret ingredient like a magician protects his tricks.

Through the decades, the 56-year-old Tolson, who called Columbia Falls home, though he neither owned one nor kept an apartment, also played bass guitar in several rock 'n' roll bands. He won heaps of bowling trophies with his trusty custom ball, engraved "JEFF," and had a son, Ian, whose own natural smile was familiar to more than a few of his father's friends attending last week's memorial service.

When Tolson died of hypothermia last month, he was relying on the same tried-and-true resourcefulness he'd always depended on, and which had carried him through hard times in the past. He nearly died in a motorcycle wreck many years ago and his face and leg had to be reconstructed. The pain was severe and constant, but he always gutted it out.

***

In late October, Tolson lost the last of his truck-driving hours at an outfit based in Colorado and returned to Columbia Falls to look for work. He was sleeping in the parking lot of Cardinal True Value Hardware during December's first cold snap, according to police officers who brought him food and coffee, keeping warm at night with an electric blanket plugged into the four-door sedan's cigarette lighter.

He'd been staying in his car three nights when on Dec. 6 the battery died in temperatures that fell to 5°. An officer discovered him at about 6am, cold to the touch but with a faint pulse; medics were unable to revive him. Columbia Falls Police Chief Dave Perry said he believes Tolson had sufficient experience sleeping in vehicles that he would have survived if the battery hadn't been drained. Tolson had also been confident enough about his situation that he politely refused officers' earlier suggestions that he seek shelter and services at the Samaritan House or Salvation Army.

"You know, living out of his vehicle so much of the time, he was probably used to it," Perry said.

The officer who found Tolson, Craig McConnell, talked to him the previous day and learned that he'd been out of work for about two weeks and intended to live out of his car until he found something stable. Tolson's son Ian, who lives in Whitefish, said his father was always prepared to spend a frigid night in the elements, and wouldn't have sought help unless he was absolutely desperate. Ian hadn't even known his father was in town at the time of his death, and had last seen him a month earlier, when they ate dinner together before Tolson struck out for Colorado.

"He was such a strong guy and he was a really proud man," Ian said. "I think that kind of turned on him because he wouldn't ask for help in a lot of situations. It was just another cold night for him. He'd been doing it all his life."

"I know it was an accident, though, because he had such a strong will to live," Ian continued. "He definitely had things figured out for himself, but I could tell when it came to the end of his life he wanted to have done something more."

***

Employees at the retail stores near the parking lot where Tolson last camped said the man came and went and was always cheery. In the days before his death, he bought Christmas gifts at the Dollar Plus store.

"When it happened I was out of town, but I understand he did come in the store quite a bit and purchase some gifts," said Dollar Plus owner Michael Jackson.

"He had planned on evidently being here for Christmas," said Tom Kennedy, a store manager at Ace Hardware. "I'm embarrassed to say I saw the rig out there for three days but I never went out there to speak to him."

Ian Tolson said his father remained close with a small group of friends in the Flathead Valley, but his roots were tenuous because he traveled so often.

Several musicians who played in bands with Tolson attended the memorial service last week, including Gary Morris, a music instructor at Flathead Valley Community College. "He was a terrific bass guitar player, and very professional," Morris said. "He was always smiling on stage and really getting into the music."

Tolson was adopted by Russ and Mary Tolson in Richland, WA, but came to Montana as a young man and graduated from Flathead Valley Community College with an associate's degree in surveying. He moved to Whitefish in 1989 and enjoyed driving truck so immensely that he never gave it up for a career in surveying, preferring long stretches on the road to stationary work.

Pastor Gene Speer officiated at the memorial service and spoke openly of the hard times that befell Tolson and the tragic manner in which he died, but asked friends and family members not to dwell on how he died.

"Let us not ask how did he die, but how did he live?" Speer said.