Since June 2009, we have read the inspiring words written by Jake Heckathorn about the incredible volunteers who have donated countless hours of service to our community. But now it is time to hear about the writer himself.

Jake Heckathorn was born and raised in Wolf Creek and developed a passion for fly-fishing at an early age. He went to law school in Missoula, graduating in 1950, and met his future wife Connie in law school (actually by sitting next to her in a contracts class). After persuading her to marry him, they moved to Whitefish in 1954.

Jake spent more then 50 years as a trial attorney in Montana before he retired to cook for his wife and become more active in community affairs. Connie jokes that now Jake does all the cooking, although she still loads the dishwasher. Besides his passion for cooking, Jake still loves fly-fishing and hunting. He joins long-time friends George Best and Bill Crismore for hunting season each year.

Jake has volunteered for North Valley Hospital for more than 50 years. He has served on its board of directors and North Valley Hospital Foundation board, and he was a tremendous force in the fundraising efforts for the new hospital.

He and Connie have been involved with the Whitefish library for years. The library was always more of Connie’s passion, but Jake supported her in all her efforts, including fundraising to build the current library building and now donating their time and support to make the library independent of the county library system.

Over the years, Jake has been a Whitefish Rotarian and a member of the Jaycees, and he served as the second Prime Minister in the Whitefish Winter Carnival.

Jake wanted to start a column to honor volunteers who do so much to make Whitefish a great community. He felt that many times we either don’t take the time to thank our local volunteers, or we miss the chance. Our local nonprofits could not make such a difference in our community without countless hours of help from dedicated volunteers.

Jake, thank you and Connie for all you do to make Whitefish a great place to live, work and play. And thank you for writing the wonderful stories about our local volunteers. Your commitment to the community makes a big difference.

— LInda Engh-Grady

This column is dedicated to those who give freely of their time and energy to worthwhile community projects, but whose efforts often go unnoticed. If you know such a person, please e-mail jheckathorn@centurytel.net.