Obituary - Art Otto

Art Otto loved Montana, and Montana loved him. He grew up at 1514 1st St. in a home built by his dad, the late William H. Otto (2012) and Muriel Otto (2014), and lived with his sister, Patty (1970), his sister, Barbara (Phoenix, Arizona), and his brother, Bill (Omaha, Nebraska). Art was a faithful son and cared for both his father and mother as they aged.

He made trips to Havre from Kalispell on a monthly and sometimes weekly basis to mow lawns, hold hands, play his trumpet or read his Bible to his mother, who, for a time, resided at Northern Montana Care Center.

When his dad died, Art packed up his mom and drove her to Kalispell where he visited her regularly at a care center there. Family was a very important factor in Art’s life.

He also loved to hunt, something he and his dad did yearly. It was a favorite pastime that he continued to do, even when his dad was too frail to go with him. He’d call Ron Kinsella, pack their favorite sipping whiskey, and drive the distance to hunt with Ron. If he found a deer, and he hadn’t met his limit, his aim was sharp, and that Kinsella-fed animal went home with Art.

Art may have been best known by those in Havre as a musician. He learned to play cornet, trumpet and flugelhorn from his mentor and long-time friend, CI Carlson. Art was a well-known soloist with the Havre High School band and a regular soloist at the First Lutheran Church where he was confirmed and loved to play “O Holy Night” at Christmas Eve services. He played his coronet for Mity Johnson while the St. Olaf Band was touring in Havre, and he was immediately conscripted to study there and solo for Mity in that band. Art graduated from St. Olaf College in 1967 with a B.S. degree in biology and chemistry, volunteered to go to Officer’s Candidate School and joined the Navy. He served as a gunnery officer during the Vietnam War.

While Art lived in Havre, he worked summers to put himself through school. He was a brakeman for the Great Northern Railway and a lifeguard at Kiwanis Camp Pool at Beaver Creek. He would often shadow Dr. Lawson while the doctor made his rounds at the hospital. He had thought he’d also become a doctor, but his love for animals and his wish to spend more time with his family led Art to become a veterinarian, and he studied and graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Art was described as a modern Dr. Marcus Welby as a small animal vet. He made sure that his patients and those who loved them were tended, as he would want his pets tended. He spent his internship in New Jersey but couldn’t stay away from Montana, and when he was a full-fledged DVM, he moved to Kalispell where he lived the rest of his sixty-nine years of life.

No memorial for Art would be accurate without explaining how much he loved being a husband and father. When he lost his infant son, David, Art built David’s wooden coffin and placed his cornet mouthpiece with his son. He loved being a dad to his other sons, Joshua (El Paso, Texas), Gabriel (Denver, Colorado) and Paul (Kalispell, Montana). He met and married Debbie Kelly in Kalispell and adopted her two daughters, Christine (Kalispell, Montana) and Katie (Billings). He lived to see his daughters and his son, Gabriel, married and loved their spouses, Kashawn, Jimmy and Char, as though they were his own. It was a special day when he could spend time with his four grandchildren.

Art was a very happy man. He loved his wife and His Lord. He knew success with his business and peace with his children and grandchildren. During Art’s funeral service in Kalispell, he played taps for himself, a recording that was made from his father-in-law’s burial where Art had played taps for him. Art was buried in Kalispell in December 2014. His life was well spent, and he is missed.