D. S. "Doc" Stell Jordan

D.S. ”Doc” Stell Jordan passed away peacefully on the morning of March 19, 2025, five days short of his 90th birthday. Doc was born on March 24, 1935, in the modest family home at 1406 West Copper Street, the seventh of nine children born to Stellios and Doris (Bean) Jordan. Stellios immigrated alone to the United States from the island of Crete at the age of sixteen and made his way to Butte to work in the copper mines. Stellios was proud to be an American and served his country during WWI. The Jordan’s were a patriotic family and all of Doc’s siblings, even his sisters, served in the military. Doc’s mom Doris was very active in the Disabled American Veterans for decades. Doc’s oldest brother Rod was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the December 7, 1941 attack. Stellios left the family at the onset of WWII to serve in the Merchant Marines. One by one, Doc’s other three oldest brothers left home to fight in Europe and the South Pacific. Stellios died in 1944 somewhere off the coast of South Africa, and Doc’s brother Paul, the family patriarch, was shot six times during the invasion of Leyte Gulf leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. Back in Butte, Doris and the family struggled while Ted, the oldest brother still at home, worked nights after school to help put food on the table. The Jordan family was poor. After turning sixteen, Doc spent his summers working as a section hand for the Butte, Anaconda, and Pacific railroad (BA&P). Swinging spike mauls and carrying railroad ties made him strong and kept him in excellent physical condition. Doc went to work as an underground miner in the Kelley on his eighteenth birthday. He was working as a miner in the Mountain Con when he married his high school sweetheart, Melvera “Cookie” Vivian, on November 28, 1953. Cookie’s dad Mel did not want the father of his grandchildren working underground because Mel’s grandfather was blinded while working in a Butte mine. Mel talked Doc into getting out of the mines and going back to work for the BA&P railroad as a switchman – according to Doc the best job he ever had. Doc started boxing in high school and won the Montana Novice Lightweight championship in 1952. In addition to boxing for Butte High School, Doc boxed for the Racetrack, Elks, and Butte Boxing Club where he was coached by Butte boxing legend Bill Barry. During his boxing career, he also held the Montana Open Division welterweight and middleweight titles. However, Doc’s railroading and boxing came to an abrupt end in 1961. While working as a BA&P railroad switchman, Doc fell sixty feet down the Anselmo mine timber chutes and broke his back. After recovering from back surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Doc went back to school and earned a teaching degree. Doc was not the typical teacher. His students called him Doc rather than Mr. Jordan. He allowed them to chew gum in class and even to eat candy as long as they were not disruptive. Doc respected his students and they respected him. Doc taught at the McKinley, Hawthorne, Hillcrest, and Washington grade schools before becoming the Butte School District homebound teacher in the mid 1970’s. After Doc’s back injury, he stayed involved with boxing as a boxing official, then in 1971 he started the Silver Bow Boxing Club. By this time, Doc was back in good physical condition and in 1972 he fought as a middleweight in the State Open Division tournament in Great Falls. At thirty-seven years old, Doc once again won the Montana Open Division Middleweight championship. Doc was named Coach of the Year at the 1972 Regional Golden Gloves tournament in Las Vegas beating out former world heavyweight champion Archie Moore. In addition to coaching Silver Bow Boxing Club fighters, Doc coached Montana Tech boxers for the annual M-Club smoker from its beginning in 1971 until the final smoker in 1999. Doc was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. Doc never drank, smoked, hunted, fished, golfed, bowled, or skied. Doc was a product of the Great Depression and his goal was to provide for his family. His hobby was working. He loved building rock walls, the first of which he built at the family home on West Copper street in 1948 under the watchful eye of his brother Paul. Beginning in 1959, Doc built a house on Bayard Street which is surrounded by beautiful rock walls. Doc and Cookie raised their four children in that home. Doc also spent his time helping friends with anything from digging basements and concrete work and roofing to complete home building and remodeling projects. Doc helped friends and friends of friends whenever they were in need. After retiring from teaching, Doc went to work for Jordan Contracting owned by his life-long friend Joe Jordan (no relation). Doc worked at numerous jobs during his life. In addition to being a miner, railroad worker, and teacher, Doc drove truck for F&S Construction during the early days of the Berkely Pit. He also worked as a laborer, carpenter, logger, boilermaker, warehouseman, equipment operator, and a Silver Bow County sheriff’s deputy. Doc finally retired for good in 1998. After his retirement, Doc and Cookie enjoyed traveling, mostly to visit relatives and friends. However, Doc continued to always be there for his family and friends. Doc positively influenced the lives of many people: his students and the boxers he coached, his friends and neighbors, and especially his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was a unique individual and will be greatly missed. Doc was preceded in death by his parents Stellios and Doris, father and mother-in-law Mel and Vera Vivian, brothers and their spouses Rod and Mary, Paul and Gwen, Harry and Beace, Leo and Joanne and Billie after Joanne’s death, Ted (Shine) and Gloria, and John (Sim) and Elaine. He was also preceded in death by his sister Ida and her husband Bill Brunell, his sister Jewel and her husband Ted Boyd, and his brother-in-law Bob Vivian and his wife Dee and former wife Pearl. In addition to his siblings, Doc was preceded in death by his very good friends Joe Jordan, Phil Dallas, and Sam Smith. Doc was fortunate to have had many more friends during his life who he helped and who were always there to help him. Doc is survived by Cookie, his wife of seventy-one years, sons Mark, Rick (Diane), Paul (Jill) and daughter Veralee (Leonard Cislo). Grandchildren, Holly (Travis) Carpenter, Doc (Sarah) Vivian, Paul (Andrea) Jordan, Nikos (Sloan) Jordan, Hanna (Jordan) Ricks, Lucas Jordan and Von (Stephanie) Jordan. Doc and Cookie were blessed with seven great grandchildren including Maddee (Blake Aries) and Rikkee Wonnacott, Derek Luna, Bree Jordan, Morgan and Taylor Vivian, and Travee Carpenter. In addition, Doc is survived by many nieces and nephews in the Jordan, Vivian, DaHood, Noyd, Johnson, Brunell, and Boyd families. Doc was a member of Butte Masonic Lodge Number 22, the Scottish Rite, and the Shriners. He led a full life and never wasted a minute. One friend recently commented that Doc was the fastest moving person he had ever known. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, a faithful friend, and an inspiration to all he taught, both students and boxers. He was tough but also compassionate and always the champion of the underdog. At his request, Doc was cremated. Friends are invited to join the Jordan family to honor Doc at 1:00 P.M. on Friday, March 28, 2025 at Wayrynen-Richards Funeral Home. A reception will be held immediately following at The Butte Depot (thanks to the Fisher family) at 818 South Arizona. Doc’s family would like to thank The Springs Assisted Living Facility, Enhabit, and Wayrynen-Richards for treating Doc with respect and dignity, and his good friend and physician Dr. Pullman who took care of Doc since starting his Butte practice. Doc hated flowers so the Jordans ask that donations be made to Disabled American Veterans, The Butte Rescue Mission, or Enhabit.

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D. S. "Doc" Stell Jordan

March 24, 1935 - March 19, 2025