BIG TIMBER — The walls of Sweet Grass County High School are a reminder that former standout Bobby Hauck and his family still loom large.
“He's still staying connected, even though his schedule is really busy. He's able to keep in touch, and I know that he still feels his roots here," said Pat Hansen, a local historian. "He's spoken at sports banquets in the spring as a guest speaker. He's spoken at eighth-grade graduation."
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Linda Johnson, a former Big Timber teacher, neighbored the Hauck family while Bobby and his siblings — brother Tim and sister Katie — grew up under Bob and Eleanor's roof.
“My son played with Tim and my daughter played with Katie, and they were back and forth across the alley where we lived," Johnson said. "Eleanor and Bob were Jeff's godparents. I was Katie's God sponsor. We spent holidays together and did all sorts of things like played cards. ... He and the coaches would come up and go to our cabin and fish, so I'd always get a ticket to the Missoula homecoming."
Hauck spent his childhood years competing in primarily football and baseball with his friends around town, building memories and bonds that have lasted the 40-plus years since his high school graduation.
“True story — third, fourth, fifth grade we all had our different uniforms. We had helmets and we had pads. His dad was there supervising that no one would have an attitude, because he wouldn't allow it," said Rob Henthorn, who was inducted into Big Timber's Bob Hauck Hall of Fame on Friday and was a teammate of Bobby's. "So I've been one of Bobby's friends for 60 years."
Naturally, then, it was big news in this small town when on Wednesday the Big Sky Conference’s winningest football coach decided to hang it up.
“He's been doing it a long time and I thought, it's time for him to de-stress and relax a little bit," Hansen said. "He hadn't really given any indication ahead of time, but I wasn't totally surprised because of his length of service."
“Good for you. The time, the effort, the work, the energy, the 24/7, the never giving up Saturdays — it's hard. It's probably the hardest job in Montana because you have 900,000 people that critique you and what you do and it's never good enough," Henthorn said. "Good for him. It's been a hell of a run and now I sent him a text, 'Every day is Saturday.'"
No more busy Saturdays for Bobby, and the folks in Big Timber couldn’t be happier for him.
