Hungry Horse veteran is volunteer, traveler, author

Jack Crandall has visited exotic places like Germany, Korea, Greece, Ireland, Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand. But after all these experiences, the one place he most wants to see is North Dakota.

“I’ve been to all of the 50 states except North Dakota,” the Hungry Horse resident said in a recent interview.

He and his wife planned a trip there, but “ended up in Yellowstone, which isn’t even close,” he lamented.

Crandall, 81, was born in Chicago on Oct. 5, 1935. He was raised in Ottawa, Kansas, and went to West Point after a year at Ottawa University. He served in the Army for over 21 years.

After the Army, Crandall retired in Iowa and worked for the state in emergency management for eight years before starting a contracting business for emergency management, and later moved to Colorado. In 2001, he and his wife of nearly 55 years, Linda, moved to Hungry Horse. He continues to develop training programs for the Army and travels the United States and elsewhere to help implement these programs.

His favorite part of living here is “the proximity to Glacier National Park and the opportunity to use things. We float the river frequently and fish and have a boat that we take out on the reservoir,” he said.

The Crandalls have three adult children and four teenage grandchildren.

“Parenting is just a pleasure, to watch them grow and develop, and do things,” Crandall said.

Crandall and his wife are active community members. Linda Crandall is the secretary of the Teakettle Quilt Guild, and the Crandalls spend an afternoon a month at the Montana Veterans Home playing tabletop horse racing. There are six cardboard horses on the table, Crandall explained, and there are two dice. One is rolled to select the horse and the other determines how far the horse will travel. The winner of each race gets 50 cents. Crandall proudly announced that at least 15-19 men and women participate in the races each month.

Crandall spent part of 2002 volunteering for the Red Cross, and currently volunteers once a week in the gift shop at North Valley Hospital in Whitefish.

His enjoys volunteering.

“You get to meet a lot of people,” he said.

A member of the Kalispell Kiwanis Club, Crandall also enjoys helping children in need. The Kiwanis Club donates four high school scholarships a year, helps a family at Christmas time who “might not otherwise have a Christmas,” and invites families to their lodge at Little Bitterroot Lake every summer.

Crandall is not just a benefactor, but an author.

In 2004, he was taking an online creative writing class when he was inspired by the story of a frog trapped in a Kalispell teacher’s bag of spinach. He wrote a children’s book called “Popeye The Little Tree Frog’s BIG Adventure,” which included scientific information about the Northwest Pacific tree frog in the pages after the story. Crandall has always loved reading and writing, and reading is still an important pastime for him. When asked recently if he has any Popeye sequels in the works, Crandall chuckled and said no.

Crandall’s life advice is laughter is the best medicine.

“Maintain a sense of humor, and all things go by. The good things and the bad things. So wake up each day as a new day and get a chance to enjoy it.”