Old Missoula

50 Years of Missoula Montana Power Division Managers

C. H. Christensen – 1914 – 1941

Aubrey Knowles – 1941 – 1949

Harry McCann – 1949 – 1966

 

C. H. Christensen

 

C. H. Christensen Taken By Death At Coast Hospital

Division Manager of Montana Power, Widely Known Executive.

Christian H. Christensen, division manager of the Montana Power company here, widely known for his achievements in the electrical industry, died Friday afternoon at a Seattle hospital, where he had been taken about two weeks ago.

Mr. Christensen had been ill for several months, but remained at his duties until early this month. He entered a local hospital January 6, and went to Seattle January 12.

His 50-year career in Western Montana covered the development of the electrical field from its beginnings. Without formal education, he kept pace with the rapid progress of the industry, and was held in high esteem by his associate.

Born in Denmark.

Born in Broager, Schleswig, Denmark, Mr. Christensen came to the United States when he was 17 years old, in 1891. With all the money he had left after his voyage to this country, he purchased a railway ticket “for as far west as it will take me.” The destination on the ticket was Desmet. As the train pulled into Missoula, Mr. Christensen saw friends on the station platform, and got off here.

He went to work at the Rankin saw mill on Grant creek, and later was employed by Mr. Quast. Successively, he was next employed as fireman for the Missoula Electric company at the steam plant on the island, wired buildings, trimmed lamps and did similar work. He wired many early Missoula buildings, including St. Francis Xavier church, and designed and installed many early-day electric signs, among them those on Schlossberg’s store and the old Florence hotel.

On Valley Project.

In 1910 he returned to Denmark on a visit, and on his return went to Hamilton to take charge of the Bitter Root valley electrical system, which had just been purchased and was reconstructed by the Missoula Light & Water company.

On November 11, 1914 Mr. Christensen was appointed general manager of the Missoula Light & Water company, the Clark Missoula Power company and the Missoula Street Railway. In 1916, he designed and put into effect one of the earlies promotional rates for residence electric service, a type of rate which has been adopted by almost every electric utility. This was a distinctly new idea, and inquiries as to its details and practicability were received from as far away as Rome, Italy.

About two decades ago the Clark companies were consolidated, and Mr. Christensen was retained as general manager. In 1929 the properties were purchased by the Montana Power company and consolidated with that company’s holdings, with Mr. Christensen as division manager.

Mr. Christensen is survived by his wife; a son, Earle A.; a daughter, Lillian C. McLure, and two grandsons, Robert H. Christensen and Tim McLure.

A Tribute.

A telegram received from F. W. Bird, president and general manager of the Montana Power company, addressed to Mrs. Christensen, reads:

“Although not entirely unexpected, it nevertheless comes as a distinct shock that Chris has passed over the divide. One grand character who unstintingly has given his best to the people among whom he lived from boyhood and to the company he so ably represented.

“The straight-thinking honesty, his ruggedness of character and his wonderful unselfishness will leave a memory to all of us here which will endure while many moons cast their shadows on Chris’ last place of rest.”

Mrs. Christensen accompanied her husband to Seattle, and will return with the body Sunday. Funeral services are being arranged.

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on January 25, 1941.

 

Mrs. Victoria Albertina [Jensen] Christensen died in Missoula on October 12, 1967. Her obituary appeared in The Daily Missoulian on October 13, 1967:

Victoria Christensen Dies in Rest Home

Victoria A. Christensen, 89, died Thursday noon in a Missoula rest home.

She was born Feb. 22, 1878, in New Brunswick, Canada, but had been a resident of western Montana for more than 70 years. She and Christian Christensen were married in Missoula in 1897. Mr. Christensen, an official of the Montana Power Co., died in 1940.

Mrs. Christensen was preceded in death by a daughter, Mrs. Lillian McLure, and a son, Earle. She was a member and past worthy matron of Electa Chapter 7, OES.

Survivors include two grandsons, Robert H. Christensen of Missoula and Timothy McLure of Polson; seven great-grandchildren, and a niece, Shirley Gardiner of Seattle . . .

Mr. Christensen’s successor, Aubrey Knowles took over the Missoula division of the Montana Power Company in February, 1941. He retired in November, 1949.

 

Aubrey Knowles

 

Aubrey Knowles Will Retire

Aubrey Knowles, manager of the Missoula division of the Montana Power company for the past nine years, will retire from active service Dec. 1 and will be succeeded by Harry McCann, division superintendent at Missoula, according to an announcement made Tuesday by F. W. Bird, president and general manager of the company.

Mr. Knowles, a former resident of Anaconda, has been associated with the Montana Power company since its organization in 1912, having started his electrical career in Montana in 1911 with the Billings and Eastern Montana Power company. Mr. McCann has been with the Montana Power company in Missoula since 1930 and has been division superintendent for the past seven years.

A native of London, England, Mr. Knowles was educated and received his early training in the electrical industry in that city, coming to Canada in 1903 and to the United States in 1906. He was employed in Philadelphia, San Francisco and the West Indies for the next four years and came to Montana in 1910, joining the Billings and Eastern Montana Power company the following year as a trouble man.

When the company was merged with the Montana Power company, Mr. Knowles stayed on in Billings and was named manager of the company’s Big Timber office in 1916. He became manager at Hardin in 1924, serving there until 1937 when he served for a few months as manager at Roundup. He was appointed Anaconda manager in 1937 and was stationed there in February, 1941, when he became division manager at Missoula.
Mr. Knowles is a past president of the Anaconda Rotary club and a past member of the board of directors of the Missoula Rotary club. He has served as chairman of the Missoula Chamber of Commerce and Missoula community chest, and now is president of the Executives club.

He has two daughters, Patricia Knowles of Los Angeles, and Mrs. Alice Dodd of Seattle. Mr. Knowles and Mrs. Knowles, who is Republican national committeewoman for Montana, will continue to make their home in Missoula . . .

The excerpt above appeared in The Montana Standard on November 30, 1949.

Aubrey Knowles died in Billings in 1973 at the age of 88. His wife Gladys (Heinrich) survived him in Billings.

 

Harry McCann

 

Knowles Retiring, McCann Named Division Manager

Aubrey Knowles, manager of the Missoula division of the Montana Power Company, is to retire Wednesday.

His successor will be Harry McCann, general operating superintendent for the division since 1942 . . .

Mr. McCann, the new manager, was born at Helena in 1901. He was graduated from Montana State college in 1924 with a degree in mechanical engineering, and immediately entered he service of the Hart Refineries in Missoula. Within a few months he was plant superintendent, a position he relinquished in 1929 to accept employment at the steam plant of the Missoula Public Service company. After eight years at the steam plant and in the water department, he became assistant general superintendent of the Missoula division.

He succeeded H. S. Thane as general operating superintendent of the division in 1942, when Mr. Thane resigned to manage the Hamilton and Plains water companies which he had purchased from Montana Power. . .

The above excerpt appeared in The Daily Missoulian on November 30, 1949.

McCann Will Retire As Utility Manager

Harry McCann, manager of the Missoula Division of the Montana Power Co. and an employe of the utility in the Garden City since he joined the firm in 1929, will retire July 1.

Succeeding McCann in the division’s top spot will be Walter G. Kelley, present division superintendent. Taking over Kelley’s position will be Charles B. Pepper, assistant division superintendent, electric operations, in Butte.

In announcing the Missoula changes, John E. Corette, MPC president, praised McCann as “an outstanding professional engineer, a hard-working citizen and an able administrator who has devoted his hole career to the Missoula area.”

Corette also described McCann as the best informed person on the Missoula water system, which the company owns and operates, and the Missoula division electric system . . .

The above excerpt appeared in The Missoulian on April 24, 1966.

Harry McCann died in Missoula in 1992 at the age of 91 and is buried in St. Mary Cemetery. His wife, Harriet (Scally) McCann also died in Missoula at age 91 in 1995 and is also buried at St. Mary Cemetery.

Walter G. Kelley, an electrical engineer from Butte, Mt., succeeded McCann as the Missoula General Manager in 1966. He was promoted in 1970 and moved back to Butte, Mt., where he became executive vice president.

 

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