William F. "Duke" Crowley

"Duke" William Crowley was a prince of a man and a king of Montana law. His reign ended when he died at home in Missoula on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, at the age of 91. It began in Walkerville (although Butte, America, has always claimed Duke as one of its own) in 1923. In between, Duke worked in the mines, served in the military, graduated from the University of Montana School of Law, earned an LLM degree from NYU (in tax of all things), married and raised two sons, and read every book in the Missoula Public Library.

If you didn't know Duke yourself, you probably saw him walking across the Madison Street Bridge on his way to the library, always dapper in an overcoat and fedora. He eschewed exercise for its own sake, but logged miles and miles on his own two feet. He also was a fixture for years at the university dining hall; once his wife was no longer able to cook, Duke ate dinner daily with the undergraduates (and those law students smart enough to garner the benefit of Duke's experience, wisdom and endless stories of Montana legal happenings).

If you did know Duke in some capacity, you knew that he was amazing at his job. What you probably did not know, though, was the sheer number and diversity of those jobs, and how influential "that guy from Butte" was in each of them. He served as an assistant attorney general, a deputy county attorney and as a private practitioner for the first 14 years of his career, gaining experience in both criminal and civil law.

In 1966, the law school wooed him into joining the faculty, where he carried an enormous course load for the next 40 years. Singlehandedly, "the Duke" taught the required courses in civil procedure, criminal law and procedure, and evidence to every Montana law student for 24 years. In 1990, he finally was afforded some relief: The law school hired a new professor to take over civil procedure. Two years later, another new professor took over criminal law and procedure. Even then, Duke continued to teach all 80-some second-year students evidence until he finally completely retired in 2005.

Although many Montana professors use nationally published books for their courses, Duke did not believe they provided enough information about Montana law, so he compiled and annually updated his own books in each subject he taught. His classroom lectures are famous in Montana legal circles, and almost every lawyer who ever learned from Duke can (and at the drop of a hat, will) recall and deliver some classic "Crowleyism." All in all, Duke taught more than 3, 000 law students, and he cared very deeply about each one of them. Duke's students are now scattered around the state and the country, passing on to their mentees the knowledge and skills they learned from Professor Crowley.

Duke's painstaking dedication to legal education was matched by his extraordinary public service to Montana outside the law school. The list of his appointments to state and Supreme Court commissions goes on and on; suffice it to say that Duke was a principal architect of Montana's current Criminal Code, Rules of Evidence, statutes of limitation, venue statutes, and the overall structure of both the executive and judicial branches of state government. Duke's willingness and ability to work for the improvement of Montana has made our state, and our own lives, immeasurably better.

Duke's native intelligence and work ethic played a major part in his accomplishments and impact. However, Duke himself was always quick to credit two enormous outside influences in his life. First, he described himself and his career as the product of the GI Bill. Duke was working in a mine in Butte, with no prospect of higher education, before he entered the military. Once he was discharged, he said, the world opened before him, and the next thing he knew, he was a lawyer, never to toil underground again.

The other major influence in Duke's life was Elaine (Hausted) Crowley, from "Andaconda." They married and raised two sons, Paul and Matthew. Missoulian readers will remember Elaine Crowley's many letters to the editor, often penned from her bedside "office" once she was confined to home by ill health. Duke was enormously proud of his wife and both of his sons, and bereft when Paul and Elaine predeceased him.

A memorial service will be held at the Law School this fall. In the meantime, please forward your favorite Duke stories and "Crowleyisms" to kiathleen.reeves@umontana.edu. Gifts in Duke Crowley's memory can be made to the University of Montana Foundation for the William F. "Duke" Crowley Endowment and mailed to the UM Foundation, P.O. Box 7159, Missoula, MT 59807-7159.

One of Duke's oft-repeated sayings was, "Where the sidewalk stops, so does Crowley." He was wrong: The sidewalk has stopped, but Duke's legacy lives on
Read William Crowley's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.