Archives West Finding Aid

Tim M. Babcock was born October 27, 1919, in Little Fork, Minnesota to Erwin H. and Olive Babcock, and he came to Montana with his parents when he was a few months old. They settled on a homestead in Dawson County west of Glendive. Tim Babcock attended grade school in Glendive and graduated from Dawson County High School in 1939. After graduating from high school, Babcock moved to California where he was employed by Douglas Aircraft Company for two years. While there he married Betty Lee on September 21, 1941, in Las Vegas. Betty, the daughter of Richard and Katherine Lee, met Babcock in high school. Their first daughter, Lorna Lee, was born in Santa Monica, California. During World War II Babcock served as a combat infantryman for three years. Serving with the 99th Infantry Division, he participated in some of the crucial battles of the European theatre. He received the Bronze Star for valor in the battle for the Remagen Bridge in France. During the war, Betty Babcock lived in Glendive and worked in a ration office. Upon returning to Montana in 1946, Babcock entered the transport business at Miles City. He and his father-in-law, R.E. Lee, started the trucking firm with two trucks. Although Mr. Lee died in 1949, Babcock continued to call the firm Babcock and Lee. The Babcocks lived in Miles City for nine years and their second daughter, Marla Kay, was born there. The family moved to Billings in the mid-1950s as the trucking business expanded. Tim Babcock first entered Montana politics in 1952, seeking election as the Republican candidate for the Montana House of Representatives from Custer County. He was elected and served through the 1953 and 1955 sessions. After moving to Billings, he was twice elected to the House from Yellowstone County, serving during both the 1957 and 1959 sessions. Babcock became close personal friends with Donald G. Nutter and in 1960 the two campaigned together for the offices of Lieutenant Governor and Governor respectively. They were elected and took office in January 1961. Lieutenant Governor Babcock became the governor on January 25, 1962, following an airplane crash that took the life of Governor Nutter. Babcock was sworn in on February 6. In 1964 he was elected to his first full term as Governor. Babcock served as Chairman of the Western States Governors' Conference, Vice Chairman of the National Republican Governors Association, and Chairman of the Board of the Montana Motor Transport Association. He has been a member of Rotary, the Elks, the Shriners, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Boy Scouts, and the Presbyterian Church. He also was involved as a mining industry consultant. On April 7, 2015, Babcock died in Helena of natural causes.

Betty Babcock was born Betty Ruth Lee on March 11, 1922, in Aplington, Iowa. Following her mother's death when she was just two, she came to live with relatives in Glendive, Montana. She and her husband built the Colonial Inn hotel, restaurant and convention center in Helena which opened in January 1970, of which she also managed. Betty, like her husband, was heavily involved in politics for many years. She was ran for, and was elected as a delegate from Helena to serve in the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention. She stated that although the final document wasn't perfect, she was anxious to see it ratified. After the Montana Taxpayers Association successfully sued to block spending of a portion of the Con-Con budget on voter education, Betty donated an office in the Colonial Inn, phones, typewriters, and a copier for backers of the proposed document to use as their headquarters for the ratification campaign. She was also elected to the Montana House of Representatives in 1975 and served one term. She continued to play an active role in the Republican Party at both the state and national level throughout her life. Betty helped lead a private fundraising effort for the restoration of the Montana Capitol and was a big supporter of a new building to house the Montana Historical Society. She passed away on August 4, 2013. A closed casket viewing was held in the Capitol building's rotunda for the public to pay respects. She was the first person to lay in state in the capitol rotunda since Gov. Nutter in 1962.