I was just reading some old posts on MT History by Hal Newmann and this brought back memories of Mr. Gray, my MT History Teacher in the 70's.
He had a great passion for MT History and the kids seemed to enjoy this class.

Years later my son had a wonderful MT History Teacher that loved what he taught also.

Ralph Hartse is one of my favorites.

Among the more interesting were Dr. Carl Luther and his "penny for your thoughts" actions.

John Potts, giving his "Not related to Pans" intro. Spent several nights out in the hills with his super telescope looking at the rings of Jupiter.

I loved Doc Luther. He was a hoot and a half.

Doctor Luther scared the bejesus out of me. Not sure why. I'd vote for Mr. Hartse but only as a band director. He sucked at teaching government or history or whatever it was he taught near the end. It was torture. I choose to remember him as the fantastic band teacher he was.

I remember well Dr. Luther and his 'penny for your thoughts'!!! Also, Mr. Jim Michaels teaching Ag classes - those were the days when the Miles City FFA chapter was a force to be reckoned with.

Mr. Gerald Gellner from junior high was my favorite along with Mrs. Ethlyn Martin from Jefferson gradeschool. I don't think anybody could forget Dr. Luther-one of a kind. Bob Nees was nice always.

Mr. Potts would always let me skip class to go to "Geri's Cake Walk and Doughnut Run" to get doughnuts! But only if I brought him back a maple bar or 2! Oh high school!

Mr. Gray is remembered now and then when the topic is "greatest teachers". A CCHS classmate and I were talking about him just yesterday at a chance run-in at the state swim meet in Butte.
Is Paul still with us?

I never had this teacher as he came well after my time at CCDHS however from listening to various students it sounds as if Mr. Letke had a tremendous passion for history. Even though he would get off the subject of the day on frequent occasions he none the less instilled his passion for history upon many of his students. I am sure he and his teachings were missed by many after he left us.

Mr. Walden & Mrs. Thorne(r.i.p.) Both had to be the coolest when I was there. I was lucky enough to graduate when they retired. Anyone else become a victim of the sawdust bin?

1959 ish Washington Jr High Miss Tooke taught English, she was an inspiration, kept me interested, Also the best English teacher, Mr Boe, made you want to do better. Mr Gierde, principal at Washington, my gosh how did he get there. Mr Skinner, Lex Luther, bless his heart. thinking back we had some great ones. Mr Matrose, shop at Washington, what ever happened to him. Bob Ness cant believe he is still involved in the golf program. Mrs Babcock man could she type. Bless everyone associated with this town, it was a great place to grow up. The school system did not teach us that we had to leave Miles City, but I think most of us did well.

Mrs. Annalora was probably the most inspiring teacher I had in school and one I credit to any current success I have. Some day I'd like to run into her again and tell her.

I just "found" another favorite CCDHS teacher on one of the social networks. Now I have three such friends there. It's really fun to find them after so many years. Unfortunately I see others in obituaries every once in a while.

In addition to those already named, Mr. Trenka in Junior High and Mr. Stabio in High School were great math teachers, which is a rare breed. Mr. Zezula in Junior High was quite a character and I enjoyed his classes very much.

Two of my favorite teachers were my high school earth science teacher, Ms. Mathiot (I think it is Mrs. Denton now), and my 6th grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary, Mrs. Holland. I can remember their classrooms like it was yesterday. Both teachers were uplifting and had a fun approach to teaching. God bless teachers like them!

It's only fitting that the eulogy for one of my favorite teachers[Howard Ledke] was delivered by my other favorite teacher,Dr. Fred Anderson.
What can you say about Howie that already hasn't been said? He had the ability to captivate his entire class on just about any subject-a rare gift for any teacher. Cynicism,hype,or playing devil's advocate were just some of the tactics Mr. Ledke utilized to get his classes involved.One particular subject that comes to mind was General Custer-a subject that we had numerous heated debates about.
Mr. Ledke caught me trying to "escape" out a north side window during a National Assembly.Instead of a forced march to the VP's office,I was escorted to the assembly by Howard,but not before he "fined" me one jelly doughnut per day.He insisted on paying,but the delivery charge was free!
Howard Ledke-father,husband,teacher,ice cream man,"professional wrestler extraordinare",avid gun enthusiast and a lot more,all good.Gone but not forgotten.

Fred Anderson was my teacher when I enrolled in MCC's vo-tech auto mechanics class.It didn't take me long to realize that I could really learn a lot from this man and learn I did.After a year of college,I worked for Fred in a little auto repair shop in Miles City on Bridge Street called S&A Enterprises.At that time,Fred was successfully campaigning a AA/Altered dragster at various National Hot Rod Association[NHRA]events.The sport was contagious and soon I had my own race car,a 1968 Chevelle SS.I remain an avid NHRA fan to this day.About the time I left Miles City for employment in the Wyoming oilfields,Fred also temporarily left Miles City after being selected for an honor scholorship to pursue his Doctor's degree.Doctor Fred returned to Miles City and accepted the job of principal of CCDHS.He eventually moved to Great Falls,where he still is the principal of Great Falls High.
Some of Dr. Fred's awards:
* The Sams G.V. Erikson Award -given to a member of the School Administrators of Montana who has made the greatest contribution to the betterment of education in Montana.
* The 2000 Montana Administrator of the Year
* The 2006 Journalism Education Association Administrator of the Year
[ http://www.jea.org/awards/andersonf06.html ]

These two completely different men shared an extraordinary gift-you wanted to learn.

Wow, thanks Fish, I was wondering if that was the same Fred Anderson I knew so long ago. I remember the Obsession!
Hey, wasn't your '68 SS the one I drove away in '82, never to be seen in MT again? The guy who bought it from Rod still has it. And he's quite the drag racer in South Carolina... it would be really easy to get you in touch with him, but first you must check your friend requests list on Facebook.

[This message has been edited by Jeff Denton (2/17/2011)]