Thomas Hale

Thomas R. "Tommy Otter" Hale began his first grand adventure by being born to June and Roy Hale in Spokane Washington, at Deaconess Hospital, and joined two older sisters, Donna and Nancy. When Tom was six, Roy and June bought a farm in Deer Park where they raised their three children, a small herd of Hereford cattle, hay, wheat and multitudes of great memories.

Tom had a very "free range” childhood, roaming the Hale acreage, fishing in the creek, raising bantam chickens, plinking away with his .22 and indulging in his lifelong passion for fishing, hunting and the natural world.

Shortly after graduating from Deer Park High School, Tom tried his hand at wildlife biology studies in college, and then enlisted in the Navy as an aviation electronics tech. Eventually based in the Philippines, he was deployed to Viet Nam to work on fighter jet radio and radar systems. He was always quietly proud of his service to his country.

In 1972 Tom realized his lifelong dream of pursuing his love of adventure, and moved with a good friend to Alaska. There he found his way to the tiny town of Whittier, where he pursued the adventure of love when he met Mandy. The two of them didn’t ever really “settle down”, but they did marry and raised two loving and talented children.

After 41 years in Alaska Tom and Mandy retired and relocated to Missoula, Montana. In 2015 Tom experienced a severe stroke, but thanks to his fierce sense of determination and positive outlook, he was soon “scootering” around town, petting all the dogs on the bike path, visiting his favorite brewpubs and generally charming everyone he met.

Tom Hale died on May 22, 2025 surrounded by his family. He died at home, with hilarious stories, a lot of laughter and a few tears easing his way. He and Mandy were married just shy of 50 years.

Joining Mandy in missing him so much are their daughter Megan, son Tim, daughter-in-law Tara (Piekarski), grandchild Eliza Piekarski, and Tom’s sisters Nancy Wolf and Donna Gregory. Happy adventuring Tommy - we’ll see you on the other side.

The family wants to acknowledge and thank all the people in Missoula and around the world who only knew Tom as that hard-to-understand “charming fellow”. We had never guessed that there was so much kindness or compassion in the world until we watched folks interact with our husband, father and brother. Thank you.