By Michael Howell
Family and friends of the late Priscilla June Antrim of Stevensville gathered at the North Valley Public Library last week for the ribbon cutting ceremony re-opening the Community Room following extensive renovations that included a major reconstruction of the Children’s Room as well.
A college-educated woman turned sheep rancher, Antrim very much appreciated the local library and used the facility habitually in her lifelong efforts at continuing her education. She appreciated it so much, in fact, that she left a portion of her estate to the library. Those funds have helped complete the necessary reconstruction work in both the Children’s Room and the Community Room.
Both rooms needed to have asbestos ceiling tiles removed and some floor tiles also turned out to be made of asbestos. Once those repairs were underway more problems were uncovered and some serious structural repairs were also required. Other improvements include the lighting in both rooms. Old ballast tube lights were replaced with LEDs and can be controlled to fit the situation. They can be dimmed, for instance, for power point presentations or other functions that don’t need such bright light. Add some new carpeting, a fresh coat of paint and some shelving and…voila! A pair of very bright, clean, and usable rooms for young and old alike.
Following the ribbon cutting in the Community Room, refreshments were served and family members and friends reminisced about Priscilla’s life and accomplishments. In particular, Leo Staat, who recently turned 90 and had known Priscilla for more than 75 years, shared some of his special memories. Leo and Priscilla were both raised in Stevensville and graduated from Stevensville High School but didn’t reconnect until Priscilla returned to the Bitterroot following her parents’ deaths
Another friend, Lynnette Thomas, read from a tribute Leo wrote shortly after Priscilla’s death in 2015.
In Leo’s words, “Priscilla’s return to Stevensville after her parents Stanley and Emily had both passed away was full of great expectations on her part. She had hoped to reestablish a portion of the family ranch, but pursuing such a large-scale undertaking alone was not to be. She did, however, create a successful sheep business and garnered a highly respected reputation in her community. This lifestyle brought her peace and happiness. And the resulting solitude provided her the quiet time necessary to continue her lifelong pursuit of self-education through literature and study.”
Leo wrote that like Priscilla, his formative years were spent in farming, ranching and dairy cows. He said that beginning with four sheep and one beehive, Priscilla expanded to 250 sheep and no beehives. On the other hand, Leo eventually had 250 hives and no sheep! Priscilla and Leo “both pursued life for its desired and intended meaning, Leo’s through the construction trades and travel, Priscilla’s through her farming, education and civic pursuits.”
Leo and Priscilla became lifelong friends, “developing a very special trust and intimacy through mutual interests, shared ideas and by caring for one another,” according to Leo, but they also “remained highly independent, pursuing our individual passions and nurturing our own homesteads. We worked well together, but did not interfere with one another’s ideas or ideals.”
In later years, they worked together helping to develop the Stevensville Community Garden.
“As a person and a friend she was quiet, at times timid, and reclusive by her very nature,” wrote Leo. “Yet she felt very powerful in what she was – through her work, thrift, conservation of nature, and deep respect for other’s thoughts and feelings… her message to all of us was clearly one of a valuation of all material things. She believed in preservation, reuse, and a simple, purposeful lifestyle. She recognized the fragility of the earth and feared that the lack of respect shown to it by the human race was most certainly compromising the future ability for us all to survive and coexist harmoniously.”