Noel was one great guy

Noel Davidson died last week, and Havre lost a tremendous developer, a community leader and above all a fine fellow.

Noel packed 200 years of living in his 97 years.

People all over town recall Noel as the man who built their family's first home. He developed businesses ranging from the beginnings of Uncle Joe’s to Pizza Hut to Havre Rental Center.

But to those of us at the Havre Daily News, he was the courtly gentleman who came to the office to chat and fill us in on news about town — always after deadline, our busiest time of the day.

He was a great story teller and would delight in talking about the place he was sure was the greatest place on Earth — Havre, Montana.

Noel lived and breathed Havre and bled Havre blue.

He knew every inch of town, and was aware of the history of every building — not just the ones he built or worked in. He knew the history of the apartment building I lived in, far more than the landlord knew.

I was here barely a week when he stopped by my desk for a talk. He carried a copy of “Grit, Guts and Gristo,” the definitive history of Havre and the Hi-Line. Noel had pretty much memorized the book and delighted to talk about it.

He returned many times to quiz me on the content. I became a buff of Hi-Line history, and one of the happiest moments was when I was able to correct Noel on the date Fort Assinniboine was founded.

He had lived through much of the city’s history and had indeed made a lot of local history.

Noel developed much of Highland Park and left land for Havre Public Schools to build Highland Park School — and left land for expansion, which he correctly assumed would be needed some day.

He didn’t build houses, he would say, he built homes.

These weren’t widgets he was constructing in Highland Park. He knew this is where people would live, raise their kids, enjoy the good things in life and suffer their sorrows.

“He didn’t build houses, he built a community,” Pastor Dolly Collins said in her touching eulogy at Friday’s service at Van Orsdel United Methodist Church.

Anyone who knew Noel for more than five minutes was made aware that he was a Mason and was active in the Shriners.

Shriners have done a lot for the community, but that all took a backseat to the group’s efforts in behalf of children at Shriners Hospitals.

The Shriners take care of children with all kinds of maladies, and this was very close to his heart. He personally paid expenses for Hi-Line parents to visit their children in the Spokane hospital.

And he raised who knows how many thousands of dollars by selling beef raffle tickets. Every year, Shriners sell tickets for a side of beef, the proceeds going to the hospitals.

Noel’s love for the children and his competitive spirit always prompted him to try to sell more tickets than his fellow Shriners.

The print wouldn’t be dry on the raffle tickets before he was doing his sales job. He always wanted to raise money for his kids, and he always left our office a happy man.

Saying no to Noel was not an easy task. He made it clear he’d be happy if you bought a book of tickets — and happier if you bought two books.

There will be no such visits from Noel, and we suspect lots of offices throughout downtown Havre will miss them as much as we will.

He also loved to sell the onions that the Shriners use for a fundraiser. Onions to me are a useless, tasteless vegetable. I wish they’d sell tomatoes. But, as I recall, he managed to sell me some. I probably would have bought snake oil from Noel.

There are lots of ways we can pay tribute to him.

Make a special effort to befriend someone who is having problems, just as Noel did so many times.

Donate a little money to his beloved Van Ordsel United Methodist Church.

When the Shriners come hawking their side-of-beef raffle tickets, dig deep and buy some to help Noel’s kids.

Heck, you can even buy some of their damned onions.

(John Kelleher is managing editor of the Havre Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected], 406-265-6795, ext. 17, or 406-390-0798.)