Forty years later, Our Lady of the Rockies still a symbol of Butte pride, resilience

Turning 40 is considered a milestone birthday, with “Lordy, Lordy, look who’s 40” the usual celebratory catchphrase.

Our Lady of the Rockies has reached that momentous date.

Forty years ago today, a dream became a reality and the 90-foot statue representing the Madonna, mother of Jesus, finally stood looking over Butte atop the East Ridge.

She was never supposed to be that big.

It was 1979 and Bob O’Bill wanted to build a 5-foot figurine of the Blessed Virgin Mary and place it in one of Butte’s parks. Thankful that his wife, Joyce, had overcome a serious illness, it was an unfeigned gesture he felt compelled to see through — his way of thanking God for answered prayers.

The expression “go big or go home” aptly describes what happened next. As more people got involved, including main organizers Joe McCarthy, Bill Dorr, Joe Roberts and Leroy Lee, the statue grew exponentially in height and weight.

It was six years in the making, from planning to building, but it took just four December days to move the statue to its permanent home.

A military helicopter, resembling a giant-sized metal mosquito, was brought in from Reno, Nevada, and on Dec. 17, 1985, the 88-foot Sikorsky Sky Crane began the monumental task of airlifting the 51-ton statue, piece by piece.

Christmas would come a few days early for Mining City residents as “Lady mission accomplished” was The Montana Standard front-page headline on Dec. 21, 1985, reporting the statue now “glowed on a pedestal atop the Continental Divide.”

Symbol of Butte’s tenacity, resilience and hometown pride

Forty years ago, the Berkeley Pit was already filling up with water. Butte mining, for all intents and purposes, had been at a standstill since June 30, 1983. On Aug. 18, 1985, it was reported that “Butte’s mining future uncertain, but the old days are gone forever.”

The statue represented hope for a struggling town, becoming a unique symbol of Butte’s tenacity, resilience and hometown pride.

“Butte’s spirit is as visibly high as the statue of Our Lady of the Rockies,” a Standard subscriber wrote.

Proof positive that you couldn’t please everyone was sent in the form of a letter from a Deer Lodge reader. She was not too thrilled.

“How much more appropriate it would have been to have a Christ of the Rockies,” she wrote.

Jeff Gibson, editorial editor for The Montana Standard 40 years ago, defined the statue as “A refection of Butte’s will.”

“The presence of Our Lady of the Rockies on a mountain ledge 3,500 feet above the Mile High City is, literally, a shining example of what can be accomplished when the people of Butte pledge themselves to a difficult task,” wrote Gibson.

Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester said he has worked a lot of night shifts over the years and has always found comfort seeing Our Lady watch over Butte.

The sheriff recalled when the statue was being built.

“My father and I would head over to the trucking yard to check on the progress,” he said.

The sheriff was a Montana Tech student 40 years ago. He remembers Dec. 20, 1985, very well as he and his friends, then on Christmas break, bought an 8-gallon keg that day and set up camp near what is now the Skyline Dog Park to watch the finale.

“The keg kept freezing up, but we still managed to get enough beer to make it a pretty memorable day,” Lester recalled. “It might have been the one and only tailgate party ever held in honor of The Lady.”

Luck was on Susie Harrington’s side in December 1985, and she still gets shivers thinking about it.

The Butte educator and her coworkers at Hillcrest Elementary on Continental Drive had some of the best views as they and their students watched, day in and day out, as each piece of the statue flew overhead.

“We were so excited to watch this happen,” said Harrington. “It was amazing.”

Memories of the final day, Dec. 20, when the head of the statue was firmly put in place remain vivid in Harrington’s mind.

When the mission was complete, from their vantage point, she and the rest of the school staff could clearly hear the volunteers jumping up and down and shouting atop the East Ridge.

Hillcrest staff and students were also dancing about, she said, and throughout Butte, hundreds of cars were honking their appreciation and people were cheering.

The Volunteers

Harrington said the statue exists because of the dozens and dozens of volunteers.

“The people of Butte are so indebted to the volunteers who put the Lady up there,” she said.

Jim Keane was one of the many men who volunteered as the sections of Our Lady were brought to the East Ridge. Keane, a Democrat, served in the Montana Legislature as a representative and senator for two decades.

“I worked on it the whole time,” he said. “It was the best thing I ever did in my life.”

Keane said the four days it took to complete the mission were an exciting ride.

“It was an emotional roller coaster for everyone that worked up there,” he said.

Keane said so many men, women and local businesses helped to make Our Lady become a reality and we need to remember all of them.

“Each played an important role,” he said. “Only the Butte community could make this happen.”

Judge Ben Pezdark knows exactly where he was 40 years ago — watching and waiting from the McQueen Club parking lot.

His companion for the four-day adventure was his girlfriend Renee’, now his wife, who was busy chronicling the event with her camera.

“It was amazing to watch,” Pezdark said. “People came together and brought unity to Butte.”

At night, Pezdark was bartending at the M&M and many of the volunteers would gather at the bar to share their daily stories. He soaked it all in.

The night of Dec. 20 was particularly special for Pezdark as he recalled the huge celebration held in Uptown Butte.

“It was something special,” he said.

A stay-at-home mom in 1985, Dala Lean lived in the 2000 block of Locust Street.

She stood alongside her neighbors in the middle of the street every day for four days, watching as the helicopter brought the statue’s sections to the East Ridge.

Lean recalled how she and her neighbors held their breaths each day.

“It was exciting,” she said. “You never believed it would happen.”

Back then, John Yelenich, a retired teacher, was working for Montana Power.

His office was at the back of the building, so he and some coworkers had a good view of the action from his window

“We could see the helicopter and watch it as it brought each piece up to the East Ridge,” Yelenich said. “The whole thing was pretty cool.”

When Yelenich saw the statue on the East Ridge for the first time, he said he couldn’t help thinking about Bob and Joyce O’Bill and how it all started.

“What a great tribute to them and the entire city of Butte,” he said.

Seed of hope

By the way, December 1985 would become a memorable time in Butte’s history, and not just because of the statue of Mary who now overlooked the town.

At the same time the statue was making its way to the East Ridge, a seed of hope was planted when the Washington Corp., led by Missoula businessman Dennis Washington, officially took over Anaconda Mineral’s properties with plans to restart mining.

Months later, it was reported in The Montana Standard that the Washington company, now called Montana Resources was making a profit with the help of more than 300 employees.