I suppose I should let you all know why I know a lot about Great Falls that is not generally known, but known well by the folks who were close to the events or families involved. I was 15 in 1956 when I went to work for Donna Osburn Staleys folks who had several businesses. Pest Control, Janitorial Supplies, and Marine Supply. One of my earliest duties was to deliver janitor supplies after school every afternoon. I also packed and prepared shipments and sometimes took them to Railway Express or the Post Office. Janitor Supplies were often stored in out of the way places in businesses and I had access to many interesting places. I also went on pest control service calls which meant going into every room, nook, and cranny of most of the buildings in town at one time or another. As the extra hand, I went on all the odd ball jobs like fumigating bats, large bedbug infestations and the like. By 16 I was making pest control service calls on my own. At 18 I was on the road for two or three weeks at a time doing service work or training new employees. We sold a line of industrial paint and specialty products for sealing wet walls and repairing concrete floors. The fact is a pest control uniform can get a person into places the police dont go. Firemen also get into the depths of businesses. I will try to post intereting tid bits every day. Please chip in if what I say hits on something close to you. During college years and for a couple years after Donna and I got married I worked in the family business. Then I spent a couple years as an accountant with the Montana Air Guard, Seven years selling computers and bank equipment, then back to manage the pest control business after Donnas Dad passed away and then with Orkin when we sold the business to them. Donnas mother grew up in Great Falls during the teens and twenties. She was good at telling stories about early Great Falls. She graduated with the first class of the new Great Falls High School building in 1930. Some of what we share came from her stories.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 21:53:04 +0000
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