Harmon’s Histories: George Hoyem remembered for grand, glorious stories

By Jim Harmon

I had never met such a man before. He grew up on a cattle ranch in Montana. He graduated from the Journalism School at the University of Montana (“MSU” at that time) in 1950.

He was a hero of the Korean War, awarded the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for Valor for bravery for “leading his men to rescue soldiers trapped behind enemy lines.”

George Hoyem was born at Lewistown, Montana. In his autobiography he wrote, “I spent my childhood days in Lennep and on my parents' cattle ranch on Bozeman Fork of the South Fork of the Musselshell River in the northwestern foothills of the Crazy Mountains.

“In January 1942, Dad and Mom sold the ranch to the Rankin outfit and bought a dairy farm at Thompson Falls, Montana, 100 miles down the Clark Fork River from Missoula. During the first part of WWII, we milked 35 cows, bottled milk, delivered milk to the community and washed milk bottles for the next time around.

“I hand milked six or seven cows twice a day. Dad milked the others with two machines. That kept us all busy, and us kids out of trouble, during our high school years.”

I came to know George as a member of the Missoula Senior Forum.

More than anything else, I remember his storytelling and his ability to recite lengthy poems from memory. Among my favorites were his recitations of Robert Service’s works - like “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee.”

George Arthur Hoyem died a few months ago at age 96. I swear, I don’t think he had an unremarkable day in his life.

After his stint in the Army, he was appointed to the position of investigator with the Seattle Region of the U.S. Civil Service Commission.

“Our job was to investigate candidates for positions that required a top secret clearance. It was the time of the Cold War. I kept that job from the fall 1960 until 1969 when I was given the chance to conduct hearings and write case decisions on discrimination complaints based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin and age.

“Ultimately I was asked to help out in the appeals division of the regional office. Federal employees of any agency had a right to appeal an adverse decision against them, such as a disciplinary suspension or removal for inefficiency.

“These cases usually involved a hearing. My job was to conduct the hearing, analyze the evidence and write the decision, for or against.”

That job took him all over the country and overseas, as well. He retired in 1979. Well, sort of.

Retirement gave him the chance to pursue his life-long passion of “collecting and studying small arms ammunition.” He began writing about the subject.

“I photographed several hundred of my own and friends' primitive cartridges from the flintlock era through military rim fire, worldwide. I wrote the descriptions, laid out the text and photos and created Armory Publications to publish my 240-page ‘Volume One: The History & Development of Small Arms Ammunition’ in 1981.”

In retirement, George called himself “the proudest father, grandfather and great-grandfather I know.”

I will always remember him for his remarkable storytelling skill. No matter how many times he would re-tell a story or recite a poem (many times at my request) it always felt fresh and new.

My favorite was his telling of the hilarious poem by Wallace McRae titled, “Reincarnation.”

McCrae writes of a cowboy asking his friend what he thinks will happen after you die? His friend says, they “lower you into the ground, and “grass’ll grow upon yer rendered mound.”

Eventually, a flower grows upon that mound, is nibbled by a horse, who then makes a “deposit.”

The cowboy, pondering that deposit, concludes, “Slim, you ain’t changed, all that much.”

Thanks for such great memories, George. What a remarkable storyteller. What a remarkable life.

Jim Harmon is a longtime Missoula news broadcaster, now retired, who writes a weekly history column for Missoula Current. You can contact Jim at fuzzyfossil187@gmail.com. His best-selling book, “The Sneakin’est Man That Ever Was,” a collection of 46 vignettes of Western Montana history, is available at harmonshistories.com.