- Date Of Birth: November 5, 1937
- Date Of Death: March 23, 2019
- State: Montana
James Mitchell Long age 81 of Kalispell Montana died March 23, 2019 at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.
He was born November 5, 1937 in Red Lodge Montana, the eldest son of Charley and Frances O’Shea Long.
His early years were spent on ranches in the Luther-Roscoe-Fishtail area of Carbon County where he learned the finer arts and sciences of fishing, hunting, and horseback riding, including – at one point – learning responsibility by guiding – quite alone – hunters as a sophomore in high school.
When he was 15, the family moved to Big Timber, Montana where he attended and graduated from Sweet Grass County High School in 1955.
After high school, he found employment with Citizen’s Bank and Trust Company where he worked for 23 years.
Among other exploits in his post-high school years, he tried his hand as a rodeo cowboy, with some degree of success. However, his banker’s mentality soon convinced him that rodeo payouts and x-ray bills don’t usually add up to a positive balance sheet.
In 1961 he married Linda Hammersmark in Big Timber Their only child, Pamela Ann Long, was born in 1962.
