The sign on a greenhouse at the Butte Rescue Mission is simple: “Paul Maloy Sr. — Butte Rescue Mission’s “Pioneer Gardener’
Maloy started a garden on a bleak, vacant lot next to the Mission’s previous site on East Second Street in Butte in the 1970s to give its homeless patrons a therapeutic activity to pursue.
Catholic Priest Father Tom Haffey blesses a greenhouse donated to the Butte Rescue Mission in Paul Maloy Sr.’s memory on Friday May 9, 2025.
Joseph Scheller/The Montana Standard
He helped them grow plants and food and even hauled water to the garden on a regular basis.
A picture of Paul Maloy Sr. rests on a table next to his son, Paul Maloy Jr., on Friday May 9, 2025 at the Butte Rescue Mission during a ceremony where a greenhouse was donated in his memory.
Joseph Scheller/The Montana Standard
Paul William “Bill” Maloy Sr. died in 2000 and on Friday, his family dedicated a greenhouse they donated to the Christian-based Mission at its newer campus on East Platinum Street.
“As a genuinely humble person, my Grandpa Bill sought to serve others and in doing so, to honor them,” grandson Matt Maloy told about 30 people who gathered for the simple ceremony. “He never sought recognition for himself.
“I can’t recall an instance or a story when he drew attention or focus on himself,” he said. “His life was never about him. God and others had his complete attention.”
Paul Maloy Jr. addresses those gathered on Friday May 9, 2025 at the Butte Rescue Mission during a ceremony donating a greenhouse in his father memory.
Joseph Scheller/The Montana Standard
Paul Maloy Jr. and his sisters, Kathy Brayko and Patricia Veeson, were on hand, as were other family members, Mission Director Brayton Erickson, Father Tom Haffey and others.
On a table next to the new greenhouse sat a picture of Paul Maloy Sr. standing at the site of the previous garden, smiling widely.
“This picture of him — it’s so simple and so humble and yet it says a lot,” Paul Maloy Jr. said. “We miss him dearly but we know through things like this, his legacy goes on.”
Haffey said a few words, referenced Biblical passages about the Garden of Eden and the tree of life, then blessed the greenhouse with Holy Water.
“Paul Maloy tried to do God’s will and did do God’s will and we have the blessings of that here in his family,” Haffey said, clutching a Bible.
“We have good angels here in the (Mission) staff that has just blessed this place and exploded with good service to the homeless community,” he said. “So there are good angels on the staff and there are good angels in all the patrons who come here.”
Erickson thanked the Maloys for their gift and said guests staying at the Mission have already planted seeds in the greenhouse. Flowers from the greenhouse will decorate the Mission campus and produce can be used in the kitchen, he said.
Attendees clap after Butte Rescue Mission Executive Director Brayton Erickson finishes speaking on Friday May 9, 2025 at a ceremony where a greenhouse was donated in Paul Maloy Sr.’s memory.
Joseph Scheller/The Montana Standard
“Beyond this, as we take some of the seeds we are growing here, we have some garden plots on the other side of our emergency shelter,” he said. “Those were built about two weeks ago by a large group of volunteers.
“We’ve just started to develop all of those garden plots and they will be tended to by the guests that visit our drop-in center,” he said.
Matt Maloy, left, Paul Maloy Sr.’s grandson, shakes the hand of Timi Guire, a Butte Rescue Mission volunteer, in front of the greenhouse donated in Maloy Sr.’s memory on Friday May 9, 2025.
Joseph Scheller/The Montana Standard
Timi Guire, a Butte Rescue Mission volunteer, said the greenhouse could help those staying at the Mission.
“It is a small but meaningful thing, for them to choose something to grow,” Guire said. “I think it helps visualize the recovery process. It helps you see that something can start as something, but it can grow into something different by the end of the day.”
Mike Smith is a reporter at the Montana Standard with an emphasis on government and politics. Photojournalist Joseph Scheller contributed to this story.