1978- 2005. Douglas Forrest Williams was born in 1950 in Havre to Paul Forrest Williams and Beverly Stengen. He was raised in Big Sandy and graduated from high school in 1968. He went on to attend U of M on a music scholarship. "I was going to be a music teacher, but when I got to college, I found out that that wasn't what I wanted to do." At the age of 21, Doug was hired by Sheriff John Saksa to work as a dispatcher for the Sheriff's Office. In 1978, Doug married Linda Danielson, and they have one daughter. Doug worked in all departments during his career with the Chouteau County Sheriff's Office. Doug's father was a deputy sheriff during his formative years, and he learned a lot from Paul about caring for the County's citizens. He heard stories of the County's old-time sheriffs during the Depression and, later, who cared enough for the underprivileged, and they would use donated money or money out of their own pockets to help them when they needed help. Doug remembers the terribly long hours his father spent on office duties. The entire Sheriff's staff were " being very kind and caring about the people of their county. That is basically how I was raised to be a public servant for the people who put their trust in you. Well, that's how I tried to serve". The Sheriff's job involved total life involvement; the phone rang at all hours, and even his wife Linda needed to answer the calls to their home.
In 1978, when Paul Williams became Sheriff, Doug had already been employed for several years, and he continued to serve under his father.
The job of Sheriff was a very intense occupation, and in 1995, Doug's father's health was failing. "He got sicker and sicker. So we spent all that time with him. When he died, we had just spent time together as a family organizing his service and picking out his coffin." The day after Paul's death, when the entire Williams family was still grieving, Doug received a phone from County Commissioner Danreuther asking him to step into his father's shoes and fulfill the remaining time in his father's term. Despite his initial reluctance, Doug accepted the responsibility, a testament to his dedication and sense of duty. "It was Awful. Awful. I didn't want (the job). I was thinking about retiring and moving on to something else at the time. I finished my dad's term and then ran two more times. I was lucky I was unopposed."
Doug recalled some of the stories about those old sheriffs during the Depression. "They knew which families were really struggling, and yet, at Thanksgiving or Christmas, they would buy turkeys or get somebody to donate them. They take those around to folks who are really struggling. That was how they were when I first worked under John Saksa. Some old bachelors lived in soddy huts, and one guy was in a greenery, and they didn't, of course, take care of themselves at all. So, it was part of our deal. We would help them because none of them had a driver's license. We would watch them, especially in the winter, when it looked like they were getting tough. They would find ways to ensure they would be fed, bathed, and supported during the difficult weather."
"When I rode with my dad all those years, I would ride with him on patrol, and we can't do that either now, but I would ride with him on his calls or all night long. He worked terrible hours."
Doug remembers the Sheriff's office as a very giving servant who cared about the people in their community. The Sheriff he remembers and has stories about had an attitude of always caring. Doug wanted to be that kind of Sheriff. They knew they had to take care of the whole community, not just taxpayers. Historically, he sees himself as a community servant, just like all the sheriffs before him. His commitment to community service, demonstrated through his work with the Sheriff's office, is a testament to his selflessness and dedication to the people of Chouteau County.
He had offers for other jobs, but none were at home. "We knew most everybody; if we didn't know him personally, we knew of them."
Doug said, "I was in three, three shooting over my career."
He started in the Big Sandy Fire Department and became the Big Sandy coordinator. "Sheriff Saksa made me the county coordinator. I had worked with the state on fires all those years. I was at the Yellowstone fires and quite a number of them.
After he retired: " I think it was three months after retiring, the Fire Chief from Montana called me and said, Hey, Doug, we have this opening, and I want you to apply. I said I'm not moving to Missoula because it doesn't pencil out. He told me to apply anyway. I was shocked to get it. I was the state of Montana Fire Coordinator." He coordinated rural fire departments and helped control rural fire. "I was the incident commander for the state's team. This was the team that did the big fires and floods. We did some tornado stuff. I did that for 14 years, 426 fire departments. When we had really busy seasons, I would be sent to Missoula to work with the group there. That's three/four states and all the federal agencies we also coordinated. One year, we had 10,000 firefighters working." He helped coordinate where they went. "Pretty neat stuff. I did that, but now I am completely retired."
Now Doug and Linda spend winters in Yuma but plan to always come home to Chouteau County.
