Jane Haker
Jane grew up, along with her four brothers, in the small central Montana town of Denton. She was taught a strong work ethic by her parents, as her father expected the same field & harvest work from her as her brothers on their dryland wheat and barley farm.
She graduated from Denton High in 1970 and then attended Western Montana College with plans to become a high school teacher. Financial constraints lead her to graduate with only her Associate of Arts in Business Education in December of 1972 (part of the 1973 graduating class). Jane then became a member of Governor Thomas Judge’s staff during his first administration. From that experience she began her federal career with the VA Administration in Miles City, MT, as well as serving the U.S. Forest Service in Stanford and Missoula and the BLM in Butte. Upon moving to Missoula in 1988, she was encouraged by her supervisor to return to college to complete her degree. Balancing work, family, and school, she graduated from the University of Montana with a BA degree with double majors in Business and Sociology.
Jane’s 36 year career with the federal government (U.S. Forest Service 31 years) included business positions in Fire Management and Human Resources. She eventually did teach…not high school students, but fire business classes for the Forest Service. She also was the Forest Service recruitment officer for Montana, Idaho, and North Dakota colleges and universities.
Jane retired from federal service in 2010. She has two daughters. Wendy is an Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at a public charter school in Anthem, AZ. Erika is a high school P.E. and History teacher, as well as the Head Girls Basketball Coach at Bozeman High School. Jane has three grandchildren that she enjoys spoiling!
