Doris Marie Swords Poppler

Doris Marie Swords Poppler (http://www.umt.edu)

My Grandmother Doris Poppler was an upstanding and caring citizen. She always had comforting words for people in need. My grandmother served on the U.S. Supreme Court as Montana's Attorney General and also was on the Federal Indian Gaming Commission's Board of Negotiators and served a large area in the northwest part of the country. In her lifetime, she passed law school at the University of Montana, joined the WAVES during WWII, raised six children, dealt with her husband Louis E. Poppler passing away from Lou Gehrig's disease at age 48, won election for U.S. Attorney General for the State of Montana, and served for one and a half terms on the Billings City Council as the Deputy Mayor of Billings.

My grandmother also battled breast cancer in the 1960s and had a recurrence during the time of my grandfather's illness in the early 1970s. She also lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s. My grandmother passed away in December of 2004. Before she passed away, we all were able to say our goodbyes, yet it was still very hard for our family to deal with her loss. She was the strongest link that held our family's chain together.

Swords Family (http://www.umt.edu)

Doris was also an upstanding member of the First Congregational Church of Billings. She sang in the choir on Sundays and served on the board of trustees. She also raised six children and often times helped raise some of her ten grandchildren. Even with the loss of her husband and the breast cancer she was fighting, she still managed to raise her children and send my Uncle Louis to college.

After my Aunt Minda graduated from high school, my grandmother went from being a mother to being a full-time attorney at law. She was finally able to get back to her law firm with Diane Bars, now an honored judge. My grandmother took the opportunity to work for the federal government and was elected as the Attorney General in the early 1980s. After the presidency of George H.W. Bush, she moved on to help the Indian Gaming Commission in Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas.

My Grandmother Doris M. Poppler was a great woman and will be remembered by many for years to come. She was an upstanding woman in her community and pushed the bar for women all over the world. I could never have asked for a better grandmother to guide and instruct me through the first fourteen years of my life.