Courtney Tait, 68

Courtney Anderson Tait, 68, passed away unexpectedly Saturday, July 20, 2024, at his home of natural causes. At his request, cremation has taken place, and his burial will be held in Bigfork at the Lone Pine Cemetery at a later date. A celebration of Courtney’s life will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Chuckwagon on the Great Northern Fairgrounds, 1676 US Hwy 2, Havre, MT 59501. Memorials in Courtney’s honor may be made to The Nature Conservancy Montana Chapter, 32 South Ewing Street, Helena, MT 59601, or donor’s choice. To send a card or leave a message of condolence for his family, visit the website www.hollandbonine.com.

Courtney was born October 18, 1955, in St. Charles, Missouri, the youngest of three sons born to Vera L. Anderson and Douglas M. Tait. Vera and the boys moved back to Havre after Douglas passed away in 1956. Vera later married Donald H. Woodward in 1960 and the boys later gained three sisters. The family moved to Bigfork in 1969. Courtney attended schools there and graduated from Bigfork High School in 1974. After graduating he returned to Havre and met Raela Hulett, his best friend and love of his life. Although they never married, they always knew they were partners for life and were together 45 years. He was an exceedingly kind man with a great sense of humor and will be greatly missed.

Courtney loved trucks and driving. After driving interstate for a few years with MGM Trucking he went to work for Molerway Freight Lines, in Havre and later worked as the terminal manager in Kalispell for a year. In 1985 he returned to Havre opening C.A.T. Transport Inc. in 1986. He owned and operated this company until a lack of employees caused him to close in December of 2022. He was very proud of his company and deeply regretted having it end.

Establishing and expanding his business required working very long hours and did not allow as much time with family and friends as he wished but he cherished memories spent with cousins, friends, nieces, nephews and pets. He loved his dogs, Alfred and Eleanor, two horses, two bunnies and all our cats. He loved our place in the country and all the wildlife our yard sheltered especially the magpies. He worked hard to establish a yard full of trees and was so glad for all the early success and saddened by the recent loss of so many. He was a fan of the original Star Trek, live theater, movies, museums, road trips; music and reading were favorite past times as well as relaxing with Raela with a glass of wine.

He also loved older "classic" vehicles and firearms. He wished he could have been a consultant on movies because he was very good at pointing out vehicles and guns that were too new for the time period the story was set in. He had an amazing memory especially for phone numbers, he never set up contacts in his phone because he had them all memorized.

He was preceded in death by his father, mother, stepfather, brother Jeffery Tait, two sisters, Marilyn Wigner and Bonnie Woodward, grandparents, uncles, and aunts.

He is survived by his best friend and life partner, Raela; brother, Edward Tait; sister, Diane Ferron; aunt, Evelyn Anderson; Raela’s sisters- and brothers-in-law, Linda and Herman Gonzales and Ella and Jim Tweten; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.