Louise Irene Hoback - A Life of Service and Generosity
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“I began volunteering at St. Vincent Hospital in 1957,” said Louise Hoback.  Louise, 90 of Billings, died on July 18, 2004, leaving a legacy of endowment support for the University of Montana, Montana State University-Bozeman School of Nursing, Montana Technical School of Mining and Engineering-Butte, Sidney Public Library and the Boys & Girls Clubs Endowment Foundation to name just a few of the causes she supported.          

Louise was born on May 23, 1914, on her dad’s homestead in the Andes Community in northeastern Montana. She attended grade school in Culbertson, Montana. Louise fondly remembered her mother driving her to and from the school at Andes by horse and buggy. Getting an education was always a struggle for Louise. Her mother died when she was 16 years old. She was responsible for all the cooking, cleaning and washing and for two years raised her younger (twins) brother and sister. Leaving her father to go to college was an agonizing decision. Then, later when her father became ill, Louise was again at a cross road and had to decide whether or not to stay in school. She did.

“In college I didn’t have any money to do the things that other kids did. I worked any job possible to stay in school,” shared Louise. “I took eleven quarters at UofM and then finished my degree by taking correspondence courses. Once I had my accounting degree, I began as a bookkeeper for Home Oil and Refining Company in Great Falls.”

Louise met J. Garrett Hoback in Great Falls at Home Oil and married in Butte, June 23, 1939. They moved to Billings in 1948 where Louise was employed as an accountant for Houck Transport Co. and by W.K. Good CPA until 1968. The following twenty years were spent as a self-employed accountant. Her husband passed away in 1976. Because of her personal struggle to get a college education, Louise had a great affinity for assisting kids in need through school. When talking about her volunteer work, Louise said, “I also worked with the schools - reading to kids. That’s when I realized that some kids just couldn’t concentrate in school because of problems at home.”

Louise willed her home at 920 Yale, Billings, to the Boys & Girls Clubs Endowment Foundation through her trust at D. A. Davidson & Company. “Many mothers just can’t be at home with their kids,” she said.

We are very grateful to Louise for her years of volunteerism and her desire to help children succeed despite obstacles. Through her selfless generosity, the young people of Yellowstone County will have a positive place to go after school and during the summer and many will be provided a college education.