Famed veterinarian leaves behind stories and memories

By MICHAEL BECKER Chronicle Staff Writer

John A. McIlhattan, veterinarian, horse driver, outdoorsman and author, died last week at his home in Bozeman. He was 61.


A fourth-generation resident of the Gallatin Valley, McIlhattan was the son of Alton and Katherine (Bohart) McIlhattan. Three decades ago, after veterinary school, he opened the well-known Valley View Veterinary Hospital.

In the last few years of his life, McIlhattan was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, which robbed the strength from his arms and took him away from many of the activities he loved.

Despite his weakness, he spent much of the past two years writing the stories of his life in longhand. McIlhattan self-published the stories in his book “Montana-Born Luck” earlier this year.

Nick Shrauger, chairman of the Draft Horse Teamster Hall of Fame, to which McIlhattan was inducted in 2006, said Friday that the book reveals the humor and warmth behind the doctor's quiet personality.

"He did such a service to us all by his book because it gives us a characterization of this warm and funny person," Shrauger said.

McIlhattan had a passion for draft horses and volunteered where he could. Gene Surber worked with McIlhattan on various 4-H programs and said McIlhattan loved teaching children about the animals.

"From a standpoint of helping out youth, John was there," Surber said. "He thought youth ought to have a nice start and there should be somebody there to help."

McIlhattan and his wife, Eileen Wallin, had one son, John.

At the veterinary hospital -- on McIlhattan Road -- farrier Larry Grantier said McIlhattan held on to traditional values.

"He was an old-fashioned kind of guy, where a handshake meant something," he said.

Grantier recalled the stories McIlhattan told, many of which are recorded in the book.

One tells how his father, while training dairymen in Cuba, barely escaped a violent revolution in the 1930s. Another tells the secrets of keeping buffalo happy -- McIlhattan raised buffalo on his farm since 1981.

"The way he tells it, you're laughing so hard," Grantier said. "You can picture every single moment."

Chris Nielsen, a family friend who helped care for McIlhattan in the last months of his life, said he always lived for the present, reveling in having too many irons in the fire.

Even after his ALS diagnosis, McIlhattan told her, "I feel more like myself than I did before."

Friends say reading the book is knowing the man.

"You read the book and you feel like you get to know the man," Nielsen said. "His whole life is that book."

Family and friends will gather Sunday, May 13, at the Springhill Community Pavillion north of Bozeman. All are welcome to share stories and memories.

McIlhattan's book can be purchased at the Valley View Veterinary Hospital.

Michael Becker is at mbecker@dailychronicle.com