Jean Kanzler

Jean M. Kanzler, 88, passed away at Livingston Health and Rehab on Feb. 11, 2014.

She was born March 3, 1925, in Portland, Ore., to James Smith and Abby Anthony. She attended Oregon State University and married Hal Kanzler, a World War II Marine captain on May 26, 1946.

Jean and Hal moved to Hungry Horse in 1947 then to Columbia Falls in 1952, where Hal was an engineer working on the Hungry Horse Dam and the Anaconda Aluminum Co. plant. Jean and Hal raised two sons, Jim born in 1948 and Jerry 1951.

The family skied, backpacked, canoed and climbed mountains. She was an accomplished skier from the 1950s into the 1970s. The Kanzlers moved again to Butte in 1965, when Hal was promoted.

Hal died unexpectedly in 1967, and Jean moved her teenaged sons to Bozeman soon after. Jerry was killed in a mountaineering accident in 1969.

Jean continued to live in the Bozeman area until the time of her passing. She was also preceded in death by Jim in 2011.

She is survived by one grandson, Jamie Kanzler, of Park City, Utah, and his wife Jennifer and two great grandchildren, James Dylan, 10 and Jacqueline, 5.

Jean Kanzler’s ashes will be buried next to her husband and sons at a future date.