Sally Daer

Sally crossed that Great Divide on her horse Ace and accompanied by her pet skunk, classroom rabbits and her many dogs and cats following a long battle with dementia.  She was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on February 19,1943. Her family moved to Bozeman, Montana in 1946, after her father was hired to restart the Chemical Engineering Department at MSU following WWII.

 

Sally thrived growing up in Bozeman. During the winter she skied and ice skated and immersed herself in school activities. During the summer months she and her girlfriends formed a bare back horse drill team which performed at parades and rodeos and took trail rides in the mountains surrounding the Gallatin Valley. They were known as the “Rough Riders”. She was also the only girl on her dad’s neighborhood baseball league. The family playground was Yellowstone NP where they hiked, fished and of course took an evening drive into the West Yellowstone dump to watch bears sample the goodies.

 

While Sally was in high school she earned scholarships to the National Musical Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, and was the Concertmaster of the Montana All State Orchestra, which ignited her lifelong love of music and led her to play violin in the Missoula Symphony for over 40 years. She also flew with her dad in his plane From Bozeman to Red Lodge on business trips while she was a lifeguard at the city pool…This trip involves navigation through Montana’s most turbulent airspace and it was a hair-raising experience just to ride with her dad driving a car… Sally had true grit throughout her life.

 

In 1961 she graduated from Bozeman High as a National Honor Society Student and enrolled at MSU, graduating in English and Music Education with Honors in 1965. During this time she married Joe Bortz and through this union, Michael Bortz was born. Sally later married Tom Daer on July 4, 1976.

 

Sally began her career teaching six grade levels at a one-room school house outside of Bozeman in 1965. The following year she moved to Missoula and taught elementary education for a total of 40 years and supervised student teachers at the University of Montana for an additional 10 years before retiring in 2015. During her tenure at UM, Sally also lectured on “Maintaining Classroom Order”…We didn’t nickname her the “Sarge” for nothing…

 

When Sally first came to Missoula she was raising her son; teaching school; working on a Masters degree and playing in the Missoula Symphony…She had boundless energy and positivity throughout her life.

 

In 2002, Sally was awarded the Mary Frances Shreeve Award for Teaching Excellence by the University of Montana School of Education. In her acceptance speech she stated, “For every teacher who gets an award, 100 don’t, especially neglected are teachers in economically deprived schools and Indian reservations. Sally was always humble, empathetic and candid….

 

Sally was also very proud of teaching Hmong refugees following the Vietnam War whom settled in Western Montana and she coauthored, “English as a Second Language Curriculum for Classroom Teachers”. …She always embraced diversity in the classroom and thought that emphasizing self-esteem, civility and inclusion was part of the education process… Sally always saw education as a pathway to enlightenment and well-being in life.

 

The other side of Sally was her passion for travel and adventure. She visited all fifty States and  all the Continents with the objective to experience different cultures; approaches to education; and  to immerse herself in the beauty of this world including: Climbing Kilimanjaro;  Trekking to Everest Base Camp with a guide who was a Buddhist Monk; Trekking to the headwaters of the Yukon River over Chilkoot  Pass; Boating down the Amazon with native guides; Trekking to Machu Pichu and through Patagonia and trekking, canoeing and bicycling the wildlands, waterways, and roadways of Montana and the great Northwest to name a few….

 

Sally was an Endurance Athlete. She ran many marathons and adventure runs including the Boston, New York, Missoula and Midnight Sun (Tromso,Norway) marathons and The Bridger Ridge Run. She also loved 50K Nordic ski races including the American Birkebeiner, Yellowstone Rendezvous, and OSCR (Seeley Lake, MT).  In 1993 Sally won the “Master Card Award for Montana’s outstanding female long-distance runner”, in part for her encouragement of fitness in children. Sally and others including the YMCA created the “Grade School Challenge” in concert with the Riverbank Run… In retirement, she also enjoyed chasing around her granddaughter and great grandkids throughout all their sporting events. It was all about the kids with Sally, whether her own or all her students… That’s what kept her going at the end.. May she rest in peace

 

Sally is preceded in death by her parents, Lloyd and Edna Berg; brothers John and Charlie and niece Katy Cicale.

 

Survivors include her husband and companion Tom of 50 years. Her son Michael Bortz (Deb), sister Annie Cicale (Bob), granddaughter Stephanie Arnson (Chad), great grandkids Hunter, Colter and Holland. Sisters-in-law Carolyn Boyd Beth Hailey, brother-in-law Steve Daer and many nieces and nephews.

 

A Celebration of Life for Sally is planned for Saturday, May 30, 2026 at 1:00 PM. At the ALI Auditorium which is located in the UM School of Education.

 

Memorial donations may be shared with the Missoula Symphony or the UM Foundation for the Sally and Tom Daer Scholarship.