If you were to ask Pat and Sandy Murphy what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving, they would probably say one word, family. Then they would quickly add, friends and then they would say they were also thankful for having been a part of the Cut Bank community for so many years.
The Murphys are now calling Lewistown home, having moved there just a few weeks ago. They now live closer to their daughter Jill, her husband Kale, and their 18-month-old son, Jackson. Their son, Zach, and his wife Tia, and their two children, Brinli, 12, and Kortlan, 9, live in Cut Bank.
“We have been coming to Lewistown off and on for a long time, since Jill has been teaching here for the past 10 years,” Sandy said.
“We really like Lewistown,” confirmed Pat.
As much as they like their new home, the Murphys are willing to admit, leaving the community they have lived in for many, many years, was difficult.
Pat was born in Great Falls. His family moved to Cut Bank when he was three years old. “I have been in Cut Bank pretty much all my life,” he said.
Sandy was born in Miles City and her family moved to Missoula a time later. She went to college at the University of Montana and then came to Cut Bank in 1980 where she took a teaching job.
“Like so many other teachers, I thought I would stay for a year or two,” she said laughing. She was a teacher at the elementary level in the Cut Bank School system for 33 years.
Pat worked for what was Burlington Northern and later became Burlington-Northern Santa Fe for 38 years before retiring.
The two met at the Pioneer Bar and it was, as Pat said, “a chance meeting,” sort of. “Our age group of guys at that time saw the pictures of the new teachers in the Pioneer Press and we all picked who we wanted to start dating,” he said with a grin. Apparently, his pick, Sandy, was the perfect one. The two were married in 1982.
Their first born, Zach, came in 1985 and Jill was born in 1989. Sandy stayed home from teaching a few years to raise their children and then returned to teaching.
In the midst of holding down full-time jobs and raising a family, Pat and Sandy both became very involved in the Cut Bank community.
Pat coached softball and baseball for both his children, was a volunteer with the Cut Bank Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years, served on both the Cut Bank Area Chamber of Commerce and the Glacier County Regional Port Authority and was a member of the Cut Bank Moose Lodge for the past five years.
All of those organizations were grateful to have Pat in their membership, but maybe the one organization that was the most thrilled with his involvement was Cut Bank Trails.
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