Senior Spotlight: Jeff Wollaston of Thompson Falls

Jeff Wollaston was born September 27, 1942, in Valley City, North Dakota. His mother was a high school English teacher. They moved to Thompson Falls in 1947. He left home in 1960 to attend college in Missoula and Great Falls. In 1964 he went to graduate school in Wisconsin to be near his biological father. Then in 1966 Wollaston joined the Marine Corp and went to officer candidate school in Quantico, Virginia. Until August of 1969 Jeff was stationed at El Toro, California. There he was a captain and worked in air control information for flights and recon units. "I was in Madison, Wisconsin, when I received a draft notice from Thompson Falls. I tried other branches first but couldn't get into them in time for the notice," Wollaston recalls. Only the Marines would take him at that time.

After the Marines, Jeff went to Minnesota in 1969 where his dad had a job at a soda company called Viking Beverages. "They sold 28 flavors in returnable bottles," Wollaston said.. He started at the bottom and learned the business. They were nonunion. "The 7-Up company started to picket us," he recalls.

After three winters in the cold Jeff returned to California and worked at a Hyatt Hotel in Beverly Hills. Then he transferred to the Sunset Strip to train at the Continental Gene Autry Hotel. "After training I was sent to the Houston branch for an interview. There I met a guy with a family who said he had moved three times in one year. I knew this wouldn't work for me."

Wollaston was married by this time with a daughter in preschool. He decided that line of work wasn't for him and his family. "It would have been my favorite job if I was single," he said.

Next they moved to California's San Fernando Valley where Wollaston got a job with Safeco Title Company. "I was a finance major in college," he recalled. At Safeco Jeff was in charge of leased offices in the western states including Oregon and Idaho. " I would have stayed with them but they sold out to another company."

A friend of his bought the printing equipment from Safeco and hired Jeff. He worked full time until 2008 when he said the economy caused him to work part-time.

Wollaston's mom and stepfather passed away in Thompson Falls. His sister did not want their house so he bought her out. He was still working at the print shop until 2010, when he moved back to Thompson Falls. He had been gone for 47 years. "My eighth-grade class was the first in the new building in Junior High," he said. Wollaston has the book published by Sherry Hagerman-Benton titled A Heritage Remembered, by Loraine DuFresne printed by the Sanders County Ledger in 1989. The book has photos of his class in the new junior high building Wollaston attended.

His grandmother, Peggy Wollaston Lee had a mercantile store, Jeff shared.

Jeff recalls other businesses in Thompson Falls. For example, he recalls that Limberlost was a Chevy dealership and next to it was the First State Bank. Scotchmans Coffee was Dr. Frogner's office. Jeff said he helped out the Macho Ranch with their haying.

Wollaston talked about his in-laws from Three Forks, the Haskells, who ran a cattle and bucking horse ranch. But first he explained his relationship with his wife. Linda Haskell, the niece of Wyatt Earp Haskell, was living in Thompson Falls while her father worked on the Cabinet Gorge Dam. When that job was finished they moved away. Later she and her family moved back to Sanders County to live in Noxon, where Linda finished high school. Jeff said they dated in high school. Then Linda went to Great Falls to get her teaching degree. They got married in 1964 when Jeff was in college. Their daughter was born October 2, 1969. Jeff visited his wife's family ranch along with his father to see Wyatt Haskell in action. "He was a well known horseman. We were impressed with how he handled a young horse," he said. Wyatt ran for state representative and enjoyed playing poker like the former Wyatt Earp legend.

But Wollaston's favorite sport is baseball. He loves baseball. "I was the youngest kid on the baseball team." He played baseball as a school sport in high school. His grandfather was from Nebraska City, Nebraska, where he played semi-pro ball. "In that league you get paid only when you play. Grandfather moved to North Dakota to play baseball." Jeff likes talking baseball. "Mickey Mantle from the New York Yankees was his favorite player. The Yankees are my team," he quipped. Wollaston recalls in 1956 Don Larson pitched a perfect game in the world series. "My mother let me be late for school so I could finish watching the game. A perfect game," he recalls. "The Yankees had no runs, no hits and no errors."