Unsung Hero: Plains Mayor Joel Banham

PLAINS — An Unsung Hero is not always recognized for their positive impact on the community, and they often prefer it that way.

Joel Banham has been committed to his small community in Plains for almost 40 years. He’s served as a hospital chaplain, firefighter, EMT and most recently, the mayor.

Three separate people nominated Banham for the Whitefish Credit Union Unsung Hero award, including his daughter Sarah Anderson.

“Just the faithfulness of sticking it out has made him an unsung hero,” Anderson says.

Banham grew up in Portland but moved to Montana to get a degree in religious education. He immediately fell in love with small-town life in Montana. Banham and his wife moved to Plains in 1988 where they raised five kids over 21 years.

Banham worked as a pastor and a hospital chaplain but eventually moved to Wyoming to become a prison chaplain. In 2012, the Banhams moved back to Montana, and he worked for a firefighting contract company in Great Falls for 8 years.

Banham received his EMT certification in 2017, and in 2020, he decided to start working with the rural fire department as an engine boss.

“I moved over to rural because I’m getting a little old to be running into burning buildings, and I didn’t want to shave my beard,” he says.

Fighting fires and saving lives is a family affair for the Banhams — all seven members have their EMT certification, three worked for the emergency services in Plains and one son works for the Helena Fire Department.

Banham is still a chaplain at the local hospital, but on a volunteer basis only. He says he won’t feel right asking for money to preach again. Throughout his career, Banham has learned not only how to connect with people, but how to love and support them.

“The only show in town is humanity, you know? It’s people, everything else is just stuff,” he says. "That's where the energy is, that's where the joy of life is, is to spend it with people."

His love for people passed down to his children. Anderson says she remembers growing up in a household full of friends and community, “I always say that the biggest education we got as kids was just people."

Banham was happily retired, volunteering for the EMS and rural fire departments, and sitting on city council. However, after the mayor accepted a job as county commissioner, Banham was the only one who stepped up for the role.

While he was reluctant to take a new desk job, and while he does have a tally sheet counting down to his last day as mayor, Banham likes the opportunity to connect with Plains residents in a new way.

“If this is just figuring out budgets and you know, water and sewer, I have no interest in that, I just don’t,” he says. “But you’re working with people in that and that’s what makes all of that important.”

His constituents are more than happy with his work, including the fire chief, James Russell, who has been friends with Banham for over 20 years.

“Every local government needs someone like Joel because he listens,” Russell says. “He might not know all the answers or have the solutions, but he cares a lot about people, and that’s what we all need.”

Banham is looking forward to retirement, but he doesn’t expect to slow down. He plans to work at the fire department well into his 70s.

Visit https://www.whitefishcu.com/UnsungHero for more information about the Unsung Hero VIP Ticket Giveaway and to submit nominations.