George Bernard “Jack” Copps Jr. (3/22/1937-2024)

The best educators view their profession as a calling, not a craft, inspire in and out of the classroom, and never really leave the profession, seeing every individual encountered as a potential student. By this measure, Jack was among the best of educators, and we were all his students.

George Bernard “Jack” Copps Jr. was born and raised in Rapid City, S.D. His parents Ruth Schmadlewsky Copps and George Bernard Copps Sr. raised Jack along with his twin sister, Jean, two additional sisters and two brothers.

Jack graduated from Rapid City High School and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Black Hills State College. He completed additional studies at Montana State University in Bozeman, and he also taught several courses at MSU and MSU Billings.

In 1960, he married Donna Reid. They raised three children and later divorced.

In 1982, on the banks of Holland Lake, Jack married Penny Clark Bullock, spending the next 42 years as one another’s biggest fans. Together, they enjoy five children, 11 grandchildren (two deceased) and four great-grandchildren.

Jack began his teaching career on the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Mont., teaching and serving as high school principal for 16 years. To this day, tribal leaders and members recall it was Jack’s firm guidance and love that helped direct their lives. Jack then moved to Lewistown, serving as high school principal from 1976 to 1979.

In 1979, he and his family moved to Helena, joining School District 1 as an administrator. In 1989, Jack resigned as Helena Superintendent of Schools to serve as Deputy State Superintendent of Schools under Superintendent Nancy Keenan. After 10 years of serving all students in the state, Jack retired … for the first of many retirements.

Jack couldn’t leave education behind, assuming several leadership roles in the state, including with Northwest Accreditation and serving as the first Executive Director of the Montana Quality Education Coalition, fighting to ensure funding to fulfill our state constitution’s aim of establishing a system which will develop the full educational potential of each person and guaranteeing equality of educational opportunity to each person of our state.

Then, he retired. Again. From 2006 to 2011, Jack came out of retirement to serve as Superintendent of Billings School District 2. He retired yet again, but after only a year, was asked to once again return as Billings Superintendent, serving until 2013. Jack was more than just