HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Pat Williams, a New Deal-style Democrat who won Montana’s great liberal-conservative showdown of 1992 to become the state’s lone voice in the U.S. House of Representatives, died Wednesday. He was 87.

Williams died in Missoula of natural causes, family spokesperson Matt McKenna said Thursday.

John Patrick Williams represented the western half Montana from 1979 to 1997. When the 1990 census eliminated one of two House seats the state held since 1912, Williams captured the new statewide district in a bruising race against the longtime eastern-district representative, Republican Ron Marlenee.

The 51% majority was the slimmest of Williams’ congressional career — and the first election defeat in Marlenee’s 16-year career.

The matchup was billed as a classic liberal-conservative confrontation and a microcosm of political battles being waged throughout the West over control of the land and its resources.

It was a bitter, hard-fought contest — each man spent more than $1 million — and Williams said quickly after his victory that he would work to bring the state together.

Williams first tried for the congressional seat in 1974, but he lost to fellow Democrat Max Baucus. Williams was elected to the post in 1978 when Baucus moved to the U.S. Senate. By the time of the face-off with Marlenee, Williams was a deputy whip in the House.

He was an unabashed liberal, a staunch advocate for organized labor and a believer in the potential of government to help people.

That won him the enmity of conservative groups such as Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition.

Williams defended the National Endowment for the Arts against pornography charges and opposed proposed constitutional amendments to outlaw abortion and flag desecration and to require a balanced budget. He opposed U.S. military intervention in the 1991 Gulf War and wanted post-Cold War defense savings to be used for public works projects.

Williams tried to take a middle road in one of Montana’s most divisive issues, wilderness, and environmental groups generally gave him strong support. He said the argument of jobs versus the environment presented a false choice because the state could not have one without the other.

“A clean environment … has been and will be an absolute cash register for this state,” he said in 1992.

His family said in a statement that Williams spent his life protecting wild lands and defending the working poor, arts, Native people and children with disabilities.

“He believed government could be a force for good, and that culture, wilderness, and education were not luxuries — but rights,” the statement said.

After he left the House in 1997, Williams started teaching at the University of Montana, including courses in environmental studies, history and political science.

Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte recalled Williams as a “dedicated public servant.”

“As Montana’s longest-serving congressman, Pat championed Montana’s interests, working to find common ground for nearly 20 years in Washington,” Gianforte said.

Williams’ wife, Carol, was the first woman to become minority leader in the state Senate. They have a son Griff, and two daughters, Erin and Whitney.

Williams’ cousin was daredevil Evel Knievel.

Williams received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and a teaching degree from Western Montana College.

Born Oct. 30, 1937, in Helena, Williams grew up in the mining city of Butte, and its traditionally Democratic unionized workforce was a major element of his power base. He taught in the Butte public schools for seven years, and the combination earned him a spot on the House Education and Labor Committee.

Williams served in the Montana House in the 1967 and 1969 sessions. In 1968 he headed the Montana presidential campaign for Hubert Humphrey. He did the same in 1976 for Jimmy Carter.

Williams got a firsthand look at Washington, D.C., from 1969 to 1971 when he worked as executive assistant to Montana Democratic U.S. Rep. John Melcher.

Williams returned to Montana in 1971 and spent seven years as state head of the federally funded Montana Family Education Program, a career program for disadvantaged people.

Williams will lie in state at the Montana State Capitol in Helena on Wednesday and Thursday.

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By the fall of 1977, Joe Montana’s future in football felt uncertain. A series of injuries and inconsistent play had dimmed the spotlight that once shone so brightly on the junior quarterback. For much of that Purdue game, Montana watched from the sidelines as his team struggled to find its rhythm. But when backup quarterback Gary Forystek went down with a broken collarbone in the fourth quarter, Montana was thrust back into the action. What followed wasn’t just a comeback—it was a foreshadowing of greatness.

The article below, “Comeback Kid Conquers Purdue” by John Stenson, appeared in Volume 119, Number 7 of Scholastic Magazine on January 27, 1978, as part of the official 1977 Notre Dame Football Review. It captures the drama, the grit, and the heart of a game that helped reignite Montana’s legend—and Notre Dame’s national championship hopes.

Comeback Kid Conquers

Purdue

by John Stenson

For so long it was simply a memory. Joe Montana had a lot to look back on in his four years at the Dome, but on this October afternoon one would swear his diary was complete. The cheers, which once surrounded him were no longer heard. He was the forgotten man in the Irish attack, and why would anyone be foolish enough to think his statistics would change within the confines of Ross Ade Stadium?

As far as the team was concerned, they were in the midst of a beginning that they would rather have forgotten. There was a scare that first weekend until Cavanaugh got hurt and the Panthers ran out of gas. And then there was that debacle against Mississippi which seemed to put the Irish hopes into a severe tailspin. Now it was time for the Boilermakers, and for the third week in a row it appeared that the Irish might have been outmatched. Purdue’s offense centered around freshman quarterback Mark Hermann. This freshman standout from Carmel, Indiana, had thrown for over 600 yards in his first two games of the season. It appeared on the first drive of the afternoon that he was going to have little trouble adding to this total. Starting from his own 20, Hermann guided the Boilermakers downfield for the first score of the afternoon. Sixty of those yards came through the air with the clincher coming on a touchdown pass from Hermann to speedy Reggie Arnold for the final ten yards.

The Irish offense, keeping pace with its performance in the previous two encounters, could go nowhere early and it was the defense that created the first score. Hermann had good field position in the early going but when he was finally trapped deep in his own territory, his inexperience paid larger dividends for the Irish. Working from his own 10, he overthrew his intended receiver, Raymond Smith, into the waiting arms of Doug Becker. Becker returned it 20 yards for what appeared to be an Irish touchdown until clipping was detected. The Irish offense then got to make the first tally as Rusty Lisch hit Terry Eurick in the end zone.

Hermann would not fold against the Irish defense. Before halftime Hermann would roll up 270 yards in the air completing two other touchdown strikes to Jappy Oliver and Raymond Smith while staking Purdue to a 24-14 third-quarter lead. On the other side, the Irish offense was listless. Lisch and Eurick had teamed up again for an Irish tally, but as the third quarter came to a close, Notre Dame looked as though they had nearly accepted defeat.

The fourth quarter brought more movement to the offense. Gary Forystek, who took over for Lisch at halftime, began to move ND downfield connecting with MacAfee and putting the Irish on the Purdue 30-yard line. Then, on second and seven it appeared that the Irish had finally cashed in their chips. On this play Forystek rolled to his right and decided to keep the ball. He carried it all the way down to the 17 before being met by a host of Boilermakers and suffering a broken collarbone. Now the stage was set. It would be Montana’s turn to recapture the spotlight. The only question left to be answered was whether he could conjure up another dream.

The Irish had to settle for a field goal on the drive which cut the deficit to seven points with over ten minutes left in the game. Now Notre Dame’s defense rose to the occasion. The passing game, which had been there for the taking all afternoon, had suddenly fallen apart. Purdue was resorting to their little-used ground attack and gaining yardage with it until Hermann was forced back to the air and made his second mistake of the game. This time it was Luther Bradley who had the honor of picking off the errant pass, putting the offense back in the driver’s seat at the Boilermaker 48-yard line. Montana’s game plan was a simple one on this drive. A sideline pass to Kris Haines and then a pass across the middle to MacAfee brought the Irish deep into Purdue territory. From there Montana returned to his big tight end for the tally, and with a Reeve conversion the score was tied at 24-24. In a period of eight minutes, Montana had guided the offense from apparent defeat to new life. He had given them the spark they had long been missing. Now it was showtime.

As they had done for much of the second half, the defense played it tough in the waning minutes. Montana got the ball on his own 30 with just over three minutes left, and everyone in the stadium realized he would not be denied. The “Monongahela Minuteman” went straight to the air, using MacAfee and Haines as his targets. Four completions between these two receivers brought the ball to the Purdue 10. On first down Montana turned to his ground game. First it went to Orsini, who brought them to the five. Then, on second and goal, sophomore Dave Mitchell fought his way to the end zone. The miracle was complete. Joe Montana had again returned to the spotlight, where he seemed to belong.

That day in Ross–Ade Stadium marked the beginning of Montana’s mythos—the first of many fourth-quarter comebacks that would come to define his career. But more than that, it was a reminder that even when the crowd quiets and the headlines move on, greatness has a way of breaking back through. For Notre Dame fans, this wasn’t just a comeback—it was the return of a quarterback who would become one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Cheers & GO IRISH!

Here’s a quick look at our top stories for the morning of Wednesday, June 25, 2025:

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TOP HEADLINES:

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THAT’S INTERESTING:

Here are some interesting historical facts about June 25th:

1. The Battle of Little Bighorn (1876): One of the most famous battles in American history took place on June 25, 1876, where Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his troops of the 7th Cavalry were defeated by a coalition of Native American tribes, including the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne. This battle is often referred to as Custer’s Last Stand.
2. The Birth of a Nation (1915): The film “The Birth of a Nation,” directed by D.W. Griffith, premiered on June 25, 1915. This silent film was controversial for its portrayal of African Americans and its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan.
3. The Establishment of the United Nations (1945): On June 25, 1945, representatives from 50 nations signed the United Nations Charter in San Francisco, creating the foundation for the international organization dedicated to promoting peace and cooperation among countries following World War II.
4. The Start of the Korean War (1950): The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea. This conflict would last until 1953, leading to a significant military and political impact in the region.
5. U.S. Supreme Court Ruling (1973): On June 25, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of “Miller v. California,” establishing the Miller test for obscenity, which set standards for what could be considered obscene material under the First Amendment.
6. Bill Gates’ Birth (1955): Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was born on June 25, 1955. He would go on to become one of the wealthiest individuals in the world and a prominent philanthropist.
7. National Canoe Day (Canada): June 25 marks National Canoe Day in Canada, celebrating the importance of the canoe in Canadian history and its role in cultural heritage and outdoor recreation.

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