Noted artist and civic leader George P. Richter, 50, Missoula, Montana, died at a local hospital Tuesday night after being seriously ill with a heart ailment for several days.

He was born December 16, 1925, on a homestead near Inverness, Montana, the seventh of 15 children and a third-generation descendent of a pioneer German immigrant family. He attended Inverness grade school and high school and enlisted in the Navy during World War II at the age of 17, serving in the South Pacific as a petty officer on a landing craft.

Mr. Richter was married to Doris Arrotta on March 20, 1948, in Great Falls, and from his early 20's was successively a farmer, salesman and contractor in the Hi-Line area. He moved with his family to Missoula in 1957 and after having attended Missoula Business College was engaged in the automobile business for a number of years. He was co-founder of a regional food brokerage firm, which was the first in this area to distribute frozen food to commercial accounts.

Having retired several years ago because of a disability, Mr. Richter gave much of his time and energies to community service and also became widely known as an artist of western Montana animal action pictures and portraits of legendary Indian chieftains. Having started drawing and painting at age 10, Mr. Richter's numerous wildlife scenes painted over 40 years are owned by private collectors throughout Canada, Montana and other states. Most of his work in recent years has been donated to public and charitable institutions for fund-raising purposes purposes.

A former local director of Head Start in the early 1970's Mr. Richter was also a member of the group responsible for initiating the heart catheterization and heart surgical unit at St. Patrick Hospital. He was a member of the 3rd Order of St. Francis of Assisi, which originated the local Poverello Center, and was a member of the St. Francis Xavier Church council. In addition, he has served as chairman of the Careers Development program, was chairman of the Western Montana Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiciton, was a member of the board of directors of areawide health, representing Lewis and Clark County, and was a member of the state Health Task Force. In addition, he has been a member of the President's Task Force for the Aged. A high point in his professional career was his appointment as the first director of the Indian Alliance, the first program of its kind nationally.

He was preceded in death by his father, George, on January 30, 1938. He is survived by his wife, Doris, and four sons, Samuel, Scott, George and Von, and three daughters, Christine,Susan and Julie, all of Missoula, and three grandchildren. Other survivors include his mother, Margaret Richter of Inverness, and seven brothers, Jack and Ray of Inverness; John of Havre, Joe of Onlak, Washington; Chris of Hingham, Montana; Frank of Joplin, and Ed of Kalispell. Surviving sisters include, Lena Shore, Francis Fraser and Virginia Adams, all of Inverness, and Mrs. Ben (Agnes) Mader and Mrs. George (Mary) Mader, Great Falls.

Services at St. Francis Xavier Church. Burial was at the St. Mary cemetery. An honor guard was furnished by Barracks 835, Veterans of World War I.

Liberty County Times, Chester, MT, 9 Dec 1976

Obituary contributed by: cara