John A. MacMaster, 70, of Helena, passed away on Sept. 11, 2013, after a long battle with cancer.
John was born on Aug. 14, 1943, to Lawrence and Donna (Black) MacMaster. He was the second of three children, with older sister, Judy, and younger brother, James. Raised in the southeast Minneapolis area, he attended Marshall High School and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in philosophy followed by a law degree. On May 18, 1968, he met Bonny Revier of Waubun, Minn. Taking his Uncle Jack’s advice of “fool around with city gals, but marry a country girl” to heart, they were married the following year on Feb. 14, 1969. They had three children: Cary (43), Dylan (41) and Jack (32).
After marrying, they moved to Vermont in 1970 where they learned to cut their own wood and make maple syrup. They purchased 22 acres of land on which they built a house, with John doing a majority of the work himself. After living in Vermont for 11 years, they then moved to Montana in 1981 and have resided in the Helena area ever since.
John worked for the Legislative Services Division writing laws for the state of Montana. In his 25 years with the division, John was instrumental in the drafting and revision of new legislation and improvements to the legal code of Montana, which included establishing the Montana State Lottery. For 18 of those years, he was the House Judiciary attorney during legislative sessions. He truly loved the legislative process. He retired from the Legislative Services Division in 2006.
Growing up next to the railroad, John would often hop the train to hitch a ride to grade school. From an early age, he played hockey, and although an injury prevented him from playing past high school, he always closely followed the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers hockey team.
With a strong passion for being outdoors, John enjoyed hockey, water-skiing (he slalomed the first time he got up!), camping, hunting, fishing and taking care of their property near Canyon Ferry.
Starting with his first home in Vermont, he and his wife, Bonny, kept a garden for over 40 years, at times growing to a quarter acre. He was also fond of tinkering in his garage and found a lot of pleasure in doing odd jobs around the house to a level of scrutinized perfection.
He was such an avid reader, especially of WWII history, that the move from Vermont to Montana required 38 boxes to transport his library.
Being a good father was immensely important to John, and he worked hard to raise his sons to the best of his ability. He was very proud of them and was the best man at two of his son’s weddings.
John was preceded in death by both parents and his brother, James MacMaster. He is survived by his loving wife, Bonny, of 44 years; three sons, Cary (Charlene) MacMaster, Dylan (Christine) MacMaster and Jack (Katie) MacMaster; sister, Judy (Jerry) Manning; and five grandchildren.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the wonderful and caring staff at the Cancer Treatment Center at St. Peter’s Hospital for their excellent and compassionate care over the years.
John will be greatly missed by family and friends and remember, “You miss every shot you don’t take!”
Per his wishes, John was cremated. A celebration to honor his life will be held at a future date. Persons wishing to be notified of details may contact his son Dylan at dylan
macmaster@yahoo.com or 208-863-2653 (evenings please).
Memorials in John’s name are suggested to the Tri Lakes Volunteer Fire Department at 3200 Spokane Creek Road, East Helena, MT, 59635; 406-475-3552.
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