SEELEY LAKE – Monday afternoon, Feb. 10 Doug Pewitt, 80 of Seeley Lake, took his last ride from his home above Salmon Lake. His battle with Alzheimer’s came to an end when he got too close to the thin ice around the inlet of Salmon Lake and his vehicle fell through the ice.
“This has been an unbelievable tragedy for my sister. Heroic from my other sister’s perspective because he got into the car and took control of his life since he had not had control for the past four to six years. For me it is poetic because here is a man that couldn’t do anything for himself, went and made the final sacrifice,” said Mark Williams, Doug’s brother-in-law.
Doug worked as an engineer for the U.S. Forest Service and designed and built trails on the Tahoe National Forest. When he retired in 2000 he moved to Seeley Lake with his wife Beth Williams.
Doug battled Alzheimer’s for the past six years. Beth was his primary caregiver and was able to keep him in his home, in the last two years with the help of an extraordinary caregiver Kristin Mason.
Alzheimer’s is a degenerative and fatal brain disease and the most common type of dementia, eventually causing problems with memory, thinking, behavior and everyday activities of daily living. Doug stopped driving four years ago.
“The disease of Alzheimer’s makes no sense,” said Mark. “The brain does not work in normal ways and the things people with the disease do are bizarre.”
Mark said everyday Doug would get up ready go to work on his forest and check in on his trail crews out in the woods.
Two years ago Doug was found walking on Woodworth Road “going to San Francisco,” where Doug had been raised after his family left his birth home of Laurel, Mont. Mark said they installed locks on the doors to keep him from wandering out of the house.
“He was the most gentle soul that you would ever meet,” said Mark. “He was loved and cared for by my sister so deeply. Her life for the past four years has been totally with him.”
On Monday, Beth left her keys in the car while she ran inside before going to the Post Office. Doug found the keys in the car and seized his opportunity for a final ride, a final act of independence. On a sunny February afternoon he climbed in, figured out the ignition, fastened his seat belt and headed out on his last ride. Law enforcement was notified.
Doug drove four miles of snowy challenging roads down his driveway, down the Big Sky Lake Road and down Woodworth Road. He drove between Clearwater Junction and the Placid Lake turnoff on Highway 83 and then took the fishing access road down to Salmon Lake and drove out onto the ice.
“We don’t know what he was thinking…I don’t think he knew where he was,” said Mark who added he couldn’t swim and was deathly afraid of water.
Doug made a big loop on the lake. As he came back towards the access, the vehicle got too close to the open water and broke through the ice.
“[Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Billy Munoz] saw him go out on the ice and was powerless to stop him,” said Mark. “The wonderful thing was that no one else got hurt.”
The Sheriff’s Office determined the incident was an accidental drowning. No charges were filed since there was no criminal element.
Mark said their entire family was grateful for the care and compassion showed by the responders especially Chaplain Lowell Hochhalter, Missoula County Deputy Heath Hanson, Federal Officer Tyler Robinson, Sergeant Bob Parcell and Trooper Munoz.
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