Dr. Charles Thomas Hash, Sr.

Dr. Charles Thomas Hash, Sr. of Bozeman, passed away January 9, 2021. He was born in Red Lodge, MT to John Otis “Red” Hash & Myra Doris (Shaw) Hash, June 24, 1934.



Charlie graduated Red Lodge High School at the age of 16. He attended Rocky Mountain College in Billings for one year and attended a semester at University of Montana and was then drafted to the US Army in 1953. After he was honorably discharged, Charlie returned to Montana State College in Bozeman in the fall of 55.



In his first semester at MSC, Charlie met the love of his life, Bonnie Marilyn Wemple in 1955, while both were involved with theatre group on campus. They married December 27, 1956 in Stevensville, MT. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1958 followed by two Master’s degrees, and finally a PhD in agricultural economics in June 1972.



He worked at First National Bank, and then returned to the Business School MSC as an instructor. Between course work, fishing and hunting, he strived for the title of the oldest living graduate student!



In 1974 he accepted a position at the Near East Foundation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as an advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Ethiopian government. The family arrived in Ethiopia 10 days after Haile Selassie was put under house arrest and a socialist revolution & civil war ensued. After two years of numerous wonderful, and sometimes scary, experiences in Ethiopia, he returned to teaching at the School of Business at MSU.



In the summer of 1977, he took a sabbatical from MSU to work with Brigham Young University. The family relocated to Nairobi, Kenya to work on agricultural development projects ranging from irrigation to building an agricultural college. Charlie and his family returned to Bozeman to work at MSU for one more year before he was hired by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).



Charlie worked with USAID from 1979 to 1998, (performing humanitarian work throughout). Charley was stationed in Nairobi, Kenya, Katmandu, Nepal, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Washington DC and La Paz, Bolivia.



After he finished his commitments with USAID, Charlie enjoyed a semi-retirement as he continued consultancies with USAID while he and his wife re-established their home in Bozeman. He enjoyed gardening, fishing, hunting, cooking, winemaking, renovating his 1929 Ford Model-A roadster, traveling to see family and friends, the Men’s Gardening Club of Bozeman, teaching Sunday School at Bozeman United Methodist Church, and camping when weather allowed.



Over the course of his life his passion to serve God, his family, community and those in need lead him to a fulfilling and impactful career. From the most basic agricultural development projects, to building infrastructure, teaching facilities, re-forestation projects and developing marketable products to replace coca production, he impacted an uncountable number of lives. He’s a man who truly left the world a better place than he found. He is back with God with nothing left to give because all of his talents, all of his love was given here on earth.



Charlie was preceded in death by his parents, siblings Mary Hash O’Shea, John “Jack” Otis Hash, Robert Joe Hash and daughter Eloise Marie Hash. He is survived by his wife Bonnie, son Tom (Deanna) Hash, daughters Gail (Jim) Hash, and Patty (Keith) Erickson, and grandchildren Sarah, Nathan, Lindsey and Charles.



A private (close family & friends) Celebration of Life will be held 1:30PM Friday, January 15, 2021. Live streaming at https://youtu.be/RPqIUzAc6Is.



Larger Covid free memorial gatherings will be planned in the summer in both Bozeman and Carbon County.



Memorials can be made to Bozeman Men’s Garden Club, Carbon County Historical Society and Museum, or Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter.