Arthur Clifford Wilmer

Saturday, March 14, at his home in Quartzsite, Arizona, with his loving wife Joni at his bedside. A fifth generation Montanan of Norwegian/French/German descent, Art Wilmer was an extremely bright, complex man of many skills. He was a mechanic, a welder, an electrician, a designer and a fabricator. A multi-talented genius, of sorts.

He was a kind horse whisperer, a rugged outdoorsman with an adventurous soul, a hippy/cowboy, and a proud individualist. He was a man of action, but he also had a gifted way with the spoken word. An elite, hard-working journeyman lineman, Art excelled at a demanding career of high voltage power line work, garnering the respect of his peers while doing so, and overcoming varying adversities along the way. And in the end, he tied it all together and found love.

Art was born in Helena, Montana, on August 5, 1948, to Clifford Jr. and Marjorie (Synness) Wilmer. He grew up with his three siblings, older brother David, and younger sisters Darlene and Connie.

Many remembrances and stories abound from those happy times. Among Art’s fondest memories were his early years living the ranch life in the Birdseye area: horseback riding, branding calves, ice skating on the pond, hunting, and working on old cars with his brother and Dad. Art had an impossible mean little black horse no one else could ride, but he whispered to “Clipper” and conquered his wildness. Among the more unforgettable episodes occurred when Art, Dave and Dar were out riding when a blinding northern blizzard overcame them. Only 14 years old at the time, Art trusted the reins to his little black horse it led the threesome through the whiteout and safely back home.

This instinctual ability to avoid disaster served him well throughout his life, whether helping keep his crews safe during four decades of dangerous lineman work, or protecting his family from an irate momma bear. And his love for animals enabled him to become a gentle horse trainer extraordinaire.

In the late 1960s, prior to the family moving to Coeur d’Alene,

Idaho, the two brothers joined a Helena Pioneer Hot Rod Club, where they met and cultivated multiple life-long friendships with the family of motor heads. Art worked as a journeyman meat cutter at Cys Meats Co. in Coeur d’ Alene, but soon moved back to Montana, where he found work as a lineman in the electrical field. In October 1973, he was initiated a IBEW Local Union 44 member. He spent the next four decades under various employments with Montana Power Company, Williams Construction and Rocky Mountain Construction. As a Journeyman Lineman, Art was dedicated to his trade, the safety of his crew, and the training of apprentices. He considered himself a storm soldier. Among the worst was a long battle in North Dakota in the 1990s, and again in 2006, at 58 years of age in South Dakota, helping restore power from a pair of unforgiving ice storms.

Art was well-liked and admired by his co-workers. According longtime lineman buddy Dennis Ailor, he was more than just a pole partner, “although that in and of itself requires trust, Faith and respect on a daily basis. “However, we became friends and developed a kindred bond,” Ailor wrote. “Art was a top hand. That means he could work anywhere and at any time figure out what to do and lead if need be or simply add to the process of getting the job done safely. Be it 30 below in winter at night in the wind or a suffocating 100 degrees in the summer, Art was rocksteady, and he was that way as a friend until the end.”

Dennis concluded, “Throughout the relentless tide and constant daily challenges of high voltage power line construction, the politics of labor, and the grinding constant pressure that comes with the trade to keep the lights on, I could rely on Art to have my back. “I am grateful to have known and shared time both on and off work with Art Wilmer. And may he rest in peace with all the other Ghost Riders in the Sky.” Among Art’s main residences during his line construction career were Helena, Bozeman, Cinnabar (working in Yellowstone Park), Livingston and back to Helena.

He wore many hats at different times in line construction, and ran several crews at the end of his tenure. During Art’s 35 years in that arena – retiring in 2008 – no lives were lost. A proud union member, in 2023, he received his 50-year pin from Local Union 44. We sometimes take electric power for granted, but men like Art Wilmer braved numerous zub-zero ice storms – some as cold as 50 below wind chill – to help keep us alive. They risk it all. God bless those unsung heroes, the linemen.

Art’s first marriage, to Donna Dirty in Couer d’Alene, resulted in the birth of his oldest daughter, Heidi. In 1984, he remarried Julie Coffey, and from this union came daughters Hailey and Maggie, while living in a fishing cabin along Cinnabar Creek north of Gardiner, Montana. They moved to Livingston in 1991. Art shared time with the family camping, fishing, and horseback riding in the mountains, on many fun weekend adventures.

There were memorable midnight backcountry rides down steep trails with their Dad leading the way on his Palomino Tennessee walking horse “Tac,” and rides from the family’s Sleeping Giant homestead to the Missouri River, where they’d take the horses swimming bareback, slide off the rear and hold on to their tails on the way back to shore.

Early one morning while still in his skivvies, Art fended off a black bear and her three cubs from the cabin. He used 4-year old Hailey’s pink banana bicycle to appear large and intimidating, eventually convincing the sow to leave. But not before it broke their dog Arnie’s leg with a powerful swipe.

Heidi related her Dad’s story about Indians riding Appaloosa’s into battle, Hailey recalled Art taking her to Kindergarten on her horse Roscoe, and Maggie remembered the time when she was 16, and drove (white-knuckled) his pristine 1979 Indy Pace Car Corvette from the shop to their home on Green Meadow Drive.

Art worked hard his entire life and helped his three daughters in many ways.

In 2010, he met Joni Rohloff in Helena, and they married in 2020 on Valentine’s Day. With the addition of Joni’s three, the couple now numbered six daughters, whom they loved. That same year, they moved to Arizona in a bus conversion. The two sun seekers loved their bus life. Joni meticulously made it a loving, sweet home while Art worked the mechanics of it all. Old cars being a lifetime hobby for Art, when he met Joni he found someone who fondly enjoyed being a mechanic beside him. The last car they rebuilt was a 1940 Ford Deluxe in Arizona. “(And) We enjoyed a healthy home lifestyle due to Art’s declining health,” Joni added.

The family is very grateful that Joni has been a loving wife, a true soulmate, and a caring friend. Thank you, Joni for loving our brother, Arthur. Art and Joni made several journeys up to South Dakota, Montana and Idaho, visiting family. The past four summers they stayed with his sister Darlene and husband Jimmy, in Post Falls, Idaho, spending quality time catching up. She would cook endlessly for Art’s appetite. Together with sister Connie, the foursome shared many old childhood memories and even watched old, old super 8 family movies. Darlene learned that her beloved brother was the same guy she grew up with: witty, sensitive, charming, caring, generous, and a heart full of love.

Art was predeceased by his parents, Junior and Margie, and his grandson Andrew. He is survived by wife Joni; siblings Dave, Darlene (Jimmy) and Connie; daughters Heidi, Hailey (Jaison), Maggie (T.J.), Crystal, Jessie (Ben) and Sarah. Also, mother-in-law Annie; sister-in-law Toni; grandchildren Ellie, Henry and Hudson; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Arthur passed peacefully knowing Jesus was his savior. And in Art’s own words: “Don’t forget about me.” Oh, we won’t, Artimus. We most definitely will not…

A memorial will be held this spring on May 25, 1 p.m. at the Silver Cemetery, on Birdseye Road.