Legacy INDUCTEE
RALPH EDWARD “REM” MANNIX, JR. (1943-2024)
DISTRICT 12 - YEAR 2025
Ralph Edward Mannix, Jr. was born on September 25, 1943, to Ralph Edward Mannix, Sr. and Frances Clifford (Breeding) Mannix. He had three sisters: Francine, Jojean, and Earlene.
“Rem” was proud of his Irish and Native American heritage. His dad’s family left Ireland and settled in Montana by way of Ellis Island. Rem’s mom, who was Blackfeet Indian, was born in Three Forks, Montana. Rem was a fourth generation Montana cowboy and rancher as far back as his paternal great grandfather. The Mannix family is one of the oldest in Powell County. At a very young age, he loved working alongside his dad. He learned to respect the land God had entrusted to his family, train horses, work cattle, put up hay, even building their ranch beaver slide as a teenager.
He amusingly told of getting thrown off a horse he was breaking for the daughters of a local rancher. Thinking he was dead, they started dividing up his belongings. When he came to, they were upset at having to return his things.
When a neighboring rancher was killed in a tractor accident, Rem would go every day before and after school to help the widow and her children with their work, then home to help his dad on their ranch.
Rem was gifted with musical talent and a singing voice. In high school, he and a classmate won the school’s first talent show.
He competed in bareback and saddle bronc at local rodeos during his high school years and was one of the first “callers” at the Helmville Montana Rodeo.
While attending the University of Nevada, working on his basic credits, he visited his sister, Dr. Francine Mannix who was doing her internship in Fresno, California. She had him put on a doctor’s gown so he could watch a child get a blood transfusion. The joke has always been that Rem was a “doctor for three days.”
Rem went to Montana State in Bozeman where he earned degrees in agriculture, animal husbandry, and education. He taught in Cascade, Montana, for two years, then returned to Deer Lodge where he taught several subjects at Powell County High School for thirteen years. One class Rem introduced to the curriculum was vehicle maintenance and repair, open to both boys and girls.
One young man became a broadcaster because of Rem’s encouragement, and another started his own band. Rem was a very proud guest of honor at a party given by the band.
Rem was a luthier, owning his own shop, The Guitar Hospital, where he built and repaired guitars, and enjoyed giving lessons to youngsters.
After retiring from teaching, he returned to the family ranch. It was here, Rem continued to raise his three children Ryan, Bret, and Dawn, after he and their mother divorced. To his children, he passed along traits he valued; hard work, integrity, good stewardship, and his faith in God.
He adopted and trained several Nevada mustangs to work cattle at the family ranch.
Each summer for a few years, Rem and other locals were invited to sing around the campfire for a wagon train that camped on the ranch for a few days at a time, going from Avon to Ovando, Montana. Rem enjoyed educating guests who came from all over the world about ranching, horses, cattle, haying, and land stewardship.
On one of the wagon trains, Rem met his future wife, Diane. He taught her how to Western Swing, waltz, ride horse, herd and brand cattle, fence, and hay. They were partners in life for 27 years. He was a wonderful husband, father to his children and Diane’s children, and “Poppy” to their grandchildren and great grandchildren. Rem was a rock through every situation.
The couple was active in their local church parish. Rem also enjoyed singing with the Deer Lodge Community Singers.
Rem loved his border collie, Sassy. She was by his side while herding cattle or horses, working in the shop, or fencing. She would lay at his feet in the evenings. Rem called her “his best girl dog on the whole ranch.” The standing joke was, when he came home, he would good-naturedly pat his wife on the head and kiss the dog.
One of Rem’s greatest memories was penning several bulls at the ranch for an Oregon stock contractor who was on his way to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada. In turn, Rem and Diane were invited to be guests in the contractors VIP booth overlooking the bucking chutes. Introduction to several finals stock contractors as well as rodeo contestants was the icing on the cake.
For over twenty years Rem served as a Powell County Commissioner, which was something he took seriously, always putting people before himself, right up to the day of his passing on May 15, 2024. He listened to both sides of a position and was a tactful problem solver. Rem was respected, admired, and well-liked by fellow Montana commissioners, people in government, and constituents. Although a man of few words, when he spoke, it was worth listening to. He served on various boards, including president of the Montana State Grange.
The legacy he left will follow him for years to come. He wished to be remembered this way, ”I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the Faith”. 2 Timothy 4:7