Robert Leslie Feathers Jr., known to everyone as Feathers, was a poker guy. He came by this honestly, descended from a long line of card players on both sides of his family. His cousin Mike Hess remembers when he was six and Feathers was 11. They were at their grandmother’s house and she was teaching Mike how to play poker. Feathers waited patiently, excited to have a new player in the game — and then proceeded to win all Mike’s chips!
So when his good friends Jim and Cathy Birtcher brought him to live in Boulder from Ohio in 1998, Feathers became a fixture on the Montana poker scene, both as a player and professional card dealer, travelling around the state and beyond to compete and deal in tournaments. This lifestyle made him well known across the region; in every town with a poker table, it seemed like everyone knew Feathers.
Feathers began his life’s journey with his parents and twin sisters, spending much of his life in Columbus, Ohio. He was short in stature but had a big attitude, wrestling and playing football in high school. He entered the Marine Corps at the tender age of 17, saw armed conflict in Subic Bay, Philippines, and won many sharpshooter competitions.
Feathers was often brash, always fearless, and mostly unapologetic. He was a storyteller and he had no shortage of crazy life experiences to regale to anyone who would listen. He could stretch a story to the limit and they were endlessly entertaining, if sometimes hard to believe. But if you knew Feathers well, you always had to wonder if the story wasn’t so crazy, after all. He did have a way of living on the edge and testing boundaries.
Like the time he, Jim Birtcher and two buddies decided to take a 14-mile canoe trip. Feathers’ and Jim’s canoe tipped, and by the time they got to the takeout, they were dried off but had lost all their beer and were thirsty.
There was a bar close by which, as luck would have it, featured a four-place card table. Feathers joined in the poker game while Jim played pool nearby. One of the locals was bragging that he was the toughest guy in the bar, despite showing signs of recently taking a beating in a fight. Well, Feathers, who would bet on anything, reached into his pocket and pulled out a damp wad of cash, threw it on the table and boasted that he knew someone who was tougher.
The belligerent local asked who that could be. Birtcher, who was within hearing distance, stepped from behind the local and waited for Feathers to point him out. Birtcher was 6 feet 2 inches tall and 245 pounds at the time. The local turned around and saw Birtcher and quickly backed down, saying he only meant people that he knew! Feathers won the bet and no blood was spilled.
Despite his gruff exterior, probably a function of his difficult military service, Feathers was very generous, funny, and soft-hearted. As one of the few male residents of the Pleasant Glen housing complex in Helena, he enjoyed the attention of the ladies who lived there. They all spoke of his offering rides to those without a car or taking them to the grocery and even shoveling their sidewalks. Feathers kept a wad of $5 dollar bills in his car and handed them out to those he would see asking for help.
And wherever Feathers went, so did his faithful dog Max. His neighbours would say that when Feathers pulled up in his vehicle, you couldn’t tell if it was him or Max driving, as Max was always perched on his shoulder looking out the window. Any man who loves his dog as much as Feathers loved Max can’t be all bad.
Feathers, father to Kelsey, Cameron, and stepchildren Tracy and Greg, passed away at the Fort Harrison VA Hospital in Helena in April at the age of 78, after battling lung disease for many years. In his last days, when he was in and out of the hospital, Feathers told his cousin Mike not to worry, he had one more tournament to win. And sure enough, one month before he passed away, he won the No Limit Hold ‘Em Tournament at Miller’s Crossing. Feathers now has a seat at the big poker table in the sky.
