By The Montana Auto Dealers Association
His thought was always that the community always supported him and his business so it was his duty and his pleasure to give back when and where he could.
Robert “Bob” Oakland decided his future was in the U.S. instead of Saskatchewan, Canada, during the summer of 1943. Bob’s father had died on Pearl Harbor Day when Bob was 15. The family had a wheat farm, and although Bob gave farming a try, he felt that the U.S. offered better opportunities for him than spending his days, sun-up to sun-down, hauling wheat on a bundle wagon and a team of horses for $3.50 per day. “I wasn’t going to do that,” Bob said. At 17, he talked to his mother, and he moved to the U.S. with his mother and younger brother. Bob’s uncle sponsored him, and he graduated from Fort Benton High School in Fort Benton, just north of Great Falls. Later, Bob served in the U.S. Navy and proudly became a U.S. citizen. He eventually settled in Great Falls, Montana, after attending Montana State University. He liked the town and the people who lived there.
Bob lived a good life. He enjoyed working, captaining his marlin boat, fishing, telling stories, traveling and camping. He met Gladyce Campbell in 1947, and they married Sept. 25, 1949. They were almost inseparable and spent 70 years together before her death. They were also loving parents to two daughters, Kris and Leslie. Both daughters followed him into the family business, along with a grandson, but Leslie passed away due to cancer Dec. 10, 2018. She was 61.
Bob said his daughter Leslie, who was the general manager and president of City Motors for the last 15 years of her life, encouraged him to be extremely generous. Like her, he found it rewarding and was glad to have a chance to give back to the community.
Bob first worked for a Chevrolet business in Bozeman while going to school. Later, he worked at Harry Ettinger’s City Motors located in Deer Lodge. After two years in Deer Lodge, the company expanded, and Bob moved to Great Falls. Bob began working at the downtown location. When Harry Ettinger had a stroke and passed away in 1961, Bob bought the company. It was already the biggest Chevrolet dealership in the state. He wanted to expand and moved the business to 10th Avenue S. Six years later, in 1967, the dealership had the largest Chevrolet showroom west of Chicago.
Bob built and cultivated good relationships with employees and customers as if they were family. That attitude and tradition continue. He also loved his community and believed in giving back to it generously by supporting and contributing time, money, pickup trucks and raffle prizes. As a Mason, he especially enjoyed contributing to the Scottish Rite Language Disorders Clinic in Great Falls so it can help treat some children for free. Bob was also a member of the Rotary Club and helped the McLaughlin Research Center, the C.M. Russell Museum, Special Olympics of Montana, Great Falls Public Schools, and many other organizations.
In June 2019, he and his family donated $500,000 to upgrade the new CTE center at Great Falls High with state-of-the-art equipment. A bond issue financed the building itself, but the money did not include equipment upgrades. Bob was happy to contribute money to the program, which trains students for good jobs in automotive mechanics, carpentry, welding or woodworking.
Bob passed away from natural causes Monday, June 15, 2020. He was 94.
