Robert Leroy Gauthier

Robert Leroy Gauthier, 75, passed away surrounded by his family on February 8, 2025, after a long battle with cancer. Despite his illness, he felt he had actually won his battle, grateful to have been blessed with several months to share memories and laughter with beloved friends and family as he said his goodbyes. He insisted that love and hope made the dying part of life every bit as important and just as meaningful as the living part.

Bob was born on January 18, 1950, on a chilly, negative-13-degree Wednesday at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana, to Louie and Mary Gauthier. Bob was taken home to the family’s small ranch in Arlee where he joined twin brothers Larry and Gary and older sister Vicky. His younger sister Bonnie joined the family three years later.

Life in Arlee was filled with great friends, a few horses, a few cows, and all the other animals that required “chores” – hogs, chickens, and sheep. Growing up in the little log house near Mountain Home also meant orchard work, riding horses, exploring Finley Creek with the Vanderburgs, Matts, and Lytles, and bringing home a bread sack full of brook trout to earn a day off from chores.

Bob and his family were active in 4H and enjoyed getting ready for the Missoula County Fair each fall, but things changed when the family moved to Missoula where Bob made a whole new group of friends, many of whom remained treasured friends for life. Bob graduated from Missoula Sentinel High School in 1968—sort of. He eventually received his diploma a couple of years later after meeting his final requirements by correspondence. Bob’s education continued briefly at the University of Montana and then at Montana State, both of which invited him to try his luck at a different school.

During the next 15 years Bob worked 25 separate jobs where he sold cars, furniture, appliances, vacuums, insurance, and whiskey. He eventually became a jailer for CSKT Tribal Law & Order, which began his professional affiliation with the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, where he was an enrolled member. He also worked as a tribal consumer credit counselor and tribal appellate court judge before he was offered the Housing Director position at Salish & Kootenai Housing Authority (SKHA) in 1983, a job he would hold for the next 20 years. It was during his tenure at SKHA that Bob realized his passion for the development of tribal communities and as he gained knowledge and experience, he became an invaluable asset to all of Indian Country.

Bob served as the Chairman of the National Commission on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Housing in the early 1990’s, a Commission established by Congress to evaluate factors that impede the development of safe and affordable housing. Bob was very proud of the work done by the Commission, whose findings resulted in the passage of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA). Bob worked tirelessly to implement NAHASDA over the next thirty years with unfailing devotion to the principles of tribal self-determination and tribal sovereignty. 

Being involved in the creation of successful organizations was one of Bob’s talents as he was the first President of the United Native American Housing Association (UNAHA), comprised of over 30 Tribally Designated Housing Entities in the Northern Plains. He was a founding member of the AMERIND Risk Management Corporation, a national self-insuring risk management pool providing property and liability coverage to several thousand homes in Indian Country, serving on the Board of Directors for more than ten years as Treasurer and Chairman. Bob spearheaded the formation of Eagle Bank in Polson, one of few banks in the nation owned by a Native American Tribe, serving as a co-founder and the bank’s first Board Chairman, and he was the owner and operator of Gauthier’s Steak and Seafood, a fine dining establishment he ran in Polson from 1985 to 1997. Bob also played a fundamental role in the development of the successful S&K Technologies, a wholly owned corporation of the CSKT, overseeing its tremendous growth as longtime Chairman of the Board. 

Over the course of his impressive career, Bob served on the Seattle Board of the Federal Home Loan Bank, Fannie Mae’s Housing Impact Council, the NAHASDA Negotiated Rule-Making Committee, and the Montana Board of Housing, and was appointed by President Bush in 2002 to serve on the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Advisory Board. 

After leaving SKHA, Bob served as Economic Development Advisor for CSKT then spent the remainder of his years running Ahoy Leasing & Development, his own real estate and property management firm, and Gauthier Agency, which specialized in providing training and technical assistance to tribes and tribal housing authorities in the area of housing management and economic development, both with his wife Myrna by his side. 

As active as Bob was in the tribal housing community, he was just as active in his home community, hosting fundraisers, coaching baseball, serving on countless boards and advisory committees, and always giving his full attention and considerable ability to each one. With Myrna, Bob especially enjoyed preparing his famous sirloin steak, baked beans, salad, and fruit dinner for the annual Pheasants Forever Banquet, a tradition they started in 1993. He was also the patriarch of his family, providing a tremendous amount of support and guidance to his children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, and nephews, a role he relished and put his whole heart into. He found great joy in being a Montanan and a CSKT Tribal Member, in Griz football and basketball, in Pendelton on the rocks, in delicious food, in a loud game of cards, in good company, in sunset boat rides, and in being at the cabin on White Swan Bay. 

The consummate gentleman, Bob exemplified how to treat people with respect and dignity, how to speak so that people will listen, and how to put people at ease with a smile or a joke. For all his gifts, these may have been his greatest – his storytelling ability and his sense of humor. He brought such joy to the world. How blessed the world was to have him. 

Bob is preceded in death by his parents, Louie Gauthier and Mary Major, sisters Vickie McCarthy and Bonnie Rice, and brother Larry Gauthier.

He leaves behind the love of his life and wife of 30 years, Myrna, daughters Charmagne Dolphin (Andy) and Rochelle Gauthier (Bill), sons Timothy Gauthier (Sami) and Robbie Gauthier (Adessa), grandchildren Madison, Kanyon, Ally, Scout, McKaul, Cache, Natalie, Jackson, Kylie, and Robert “Eiler”, great-grandchildren Atticus, Nova, and Mateo, brothers Gary Gauthier and Robert Decker, and many nieces and nephews.

The Gauthier family would like to thank the Community Cancer Center, Partners in Home Health Care, and the incredible staff at the St. Luke Extended Care for all their support during this difficult time. The family would also like to personally thank Dr. Vizcarra for his exceptional care throughout Bob’s journey.

At Bob’s request, a memorial service will be held later in the spring on May 23, 2025, at 11:00 am at the Salish Kootenai College, Joe McDonald Center. Memorial donations may be made in his name to the Lower Flathead Valley Community Foundation at P.O. Box 255, Ronan, MT 59864, www.lfvcf.com.