James Charles “Lefty” Wigmore

James Charles “Lefty” Wigmore, 77, a long time teacher and coach at Simms High School, passed away on November 1, 2017 at a local care facility. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for a number of years. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at Hillcrest Lawn Memorial Chapel, 1410 13th St. S. Schnider Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. Lefty was born June 7, 1940 in Plentywood, Montana to Dewey and Ruth Wigmore. Because of his father’s employment, he grew up in many towns around the state, including Glasgow, Forsyth, Billings, Choteau, Chester, and Havre. Always interested in sports, he participated in baseball, boxing, swimming, football, basketball and track while growing up. He graduated from Chester High School in 1958. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Northern Montana College in Havre. He taught English in Rudyard, Brady and Havre prior to moving to the place he had wanted to coach since Simms beat Chester in football his senior year of high school. During his 30 year career at Simms, he acted at various times as wrestling coach, track coach, football coach, girls’ fast pitch coach, and activities director, as well as teaching hundreds of students English. He retired in 1999. In 1970, Lefty met a fellow English teacher, Donna Troolin, who was teaching in Great Falls. They were married in Cambridge, MN on July 25, 1970. They took a delayed honeymoon trip through Europe the following summer. Their son Jeff was born May 24, 1976. In addition to teaching and coaching, Lefty enjoyed golfing, working crossword puzzles and reading. Although he visited many locations in Europe, North America, and parts of Vietnam, where his son Jeff was married, there was no place he loved more than Montana. He preferred his home state to anywhere else in the world. He survived by his wife, Donna of Great Falls; his son, Jeff and daughter-in-law Hanh and grandson Samson of Missoula; his niece Debi (Marshall) Larsen of Geraldine; and nephews Jim Anderson of Fort Benton and Larry (Crystal) Geyer of Big Sandy. He was preceded in death by his parents, Dewey and Ruth Wigmore and sister Judy Geyer. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the McLaughlin Research Center, 1520 23rd St. S., Great Falls, MT 59405, or the American Alzheimer’s Association.