Local attorney Rick Pyfer died unexpectedly Monday
East Helena native and longtime local attorney Rick Pyfer died unexpectedly Monday night, his family said.
Daughter Sara Fowler said Wednesday that funeral arrangements for Pyfer are still being made but a funeral will likely be held in January.
Pyfer, 71, was a philanthropic giant in the Helena-area giving generously not only his money, but also his time.
Rick Pyfer
“His mantra was ‘if you see something, do something’. … He donated a lot of money to many causes, but it wasn’t just money. He was taking on another little brother, ringing the bells, scraping paint,” Fowler said, referencing her father’s involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for decades, his yearly participation in The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle program and his efforts to help the East Helena Historical Society preserve its train depot that sits near city hall.
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Pyfer also served at one time as board president of the United Way of the Lewis and Clark Area, Helena YMCA, Helena Kiwanis Club and Western Montana Catholic Foundation and was active with ExplorationWorks, Knights of Columbus, University of Montana Blewett School of Law, Carroll College, Helena Ambassadors, Grandstreet Theatre, Prickly Pear Land Trust, Shodair Children’s Hospital, Good Samaritan Ministries and Helena’s Old Glory Landmark.
“The list goes on and on,” Fowler said. “He’s been on probably every board in town.”
Pyfer was awarded for his philanthropy by the Big Sky Institute for the Advancement of Nonprofits in 2018.
“He knew, I think, everyone in Helena,” Fowler said. “So many different people’s lives were touched by him.”
She said in the days since her father’s passing, hundreds of people have reached out to the family to express their condolences.
“So many people said ‘I just can’t believe it; I just saw him,'” Fowler said. “Well, he must have just saw 150 people.”
Many people may remember Pyfer as the man who played the accordion in front of his Red Kettle every year for The Salvation Army.
Pyfer’s son, Christopher Pyfer, said his father loved to entertain people and especially loved to make his children laugh.
Christopher recalled summer days spent at the family cabin on Canyon Ferry Lake.
“Then he’d pull out his water skis without the fins and do goofy ticks on his skis while wearing a moose hat, and the kids would all laugh,” Christopher said. “Around the holidays he was usually playing the piano and leading carols. He loved to entertain.”
While his Catholic faith, his law career and his community were important to Pyfer, his children said family always came first.
“He was an amazing father,” Christopher said, noting that the two often bonded over sports. “He taught me how to play baseball,” he said. “He’d hit me fly balls in the park until I couldn’t see anymore.”
Fowler said her father was supportive.
“As a father, he was always my biggest supporter, my rock and my foundation,” she said. “He was there for me 110% my entire life. I always knew I was loved and supported.”
Christopher said he lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and their two kids, a 9-year-old and a 4-month-old. Christopher said his father met their youngest son once during a trip to New York in September.
“He spent a lot of time with my family and I,” Fowler said.
She said her husband was sent on a year-long military deployment during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and her father moved in to help with the couple’s two children, now ages 11 and 9.
“His self-sacrifice was tremendous,” she said.
Both Pyfer’s children agreed their father’s civic engagement and desire to help others was passed down from his father, Clark Pyfer.
“His dad was very community service-oriented,” Fowler said. “So from a very young age, community service was modeled to my dad.”
Christopher said it was in his father’s DNA.
“I learned from him that life is bigger than just you,” he said. “This is a divisive time with lots of disagreement. Dad had plenty of disagreements with people, but he was able to move past those. He understood people are still people, and if you can just have a conversation with them, you’ll see you have more in common than not.”
Rick Pyfer
For more than 40 years, Pyfer helped run local law firm Doubek, Pyfer & Storrar.
Partner John Doubek said Pyfer’s spirit of community service “dovetailed well with the practice we have,” representing personal injury plaintiffs, and was regularly “putting smiles on people’s faces” around the office.
“I even put up with his accordion,” Doubek said. “Though that’s probably why my office was at the opposite end of the building as his.”
He said Pyfer would regularly visit retirement homes to play his accordion for residents.
“You visit any nursing home in the area and talk to anyone who has spent anytime there, and they’ll know Rick and his accordion,” he said. “That’s just the kind of guy he was. … He enjoyed the hell outta life.”
Nolan Lister is a reporter at the Helena Independent Record with an emphasis on local government.
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