Teddy bears invite themselves to be held and hugged, and there are so many of them—piles of soft, cuddly toys in every fabric and stuffing—at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church’s Holiday Market. It’s a bazaar for a certain set: those who understand the magic of a sale in a church basement, home to stuff you didn’t know you needed and probably the best cinnamon bun you’ve ever tried. This sale this year at this particular church is extra special thanks to one woman’s lifetime collection.
Tiny bears that fit on a brooch. Big bears taller than a child. Bears in hand-knitted sweaters. Commemorative “Teddy Roosevelt” camping bears in their original packaging. Winnie the Pooh. Lauren “Bear”-call. Several vintage bears and a few Beanie Babies, too.
The collection extends beyond stuffed animals. There’s a bear-head hobby horse. Bear pillows, prints and paintings. Framed photos of teddy bears. A bear license plate. Bear-related books, including three copies of “The Secret World of Teddy Bears.” Bear artwork by famed local artists Nancy Erickson and Monte Dolack.
Betsy Holmquist, a member of the cadre of older parishioners who organize church events, is showing off the bears to visitors while unpacking them in preparation for the Holiday Market, Nov. 10-11. Holmquist says she was more into dolls as a girl, but she gets it.
“Oh, look at this one, this is our most expensive bear,” she says, retrieving a moderately sized brown bear that might look unassuming to those who have never watched Antiques Roadshow. This bear is an original Steiff “growler” mohair teddy in pristine condition, listed at $225. (Proceeds from Holy Spirit’s holiday markets and raffles support their community outreach programs.) Most other bears can be “adopted” for less than $10.
The source of all these bears is the estate of a woman once known as “The Bear Lady.” Victoria “Vicki” Fleischer developed an affinity for bears while working in Yellowstone National Park as a seasonal employee and started collecting teddy bears as an adult, according to a Montana Standard article from sometime in the early 1980s.
“They’re forever loyal and faithful. They keep my secrets,” Fleischer told the reporter in Butte, where she used to live. She liked to put the teddy bears in her car and take them on drives around town.
An obituary says Fleischer worked as a banker for most of her career, was widowed by her second husband in 2014, and died at her home in Missoula in May 2023 at the age of 76. She left behind no known surviving family members, but many friends in the community—and extensive, odd collections of things.
Holy Spirit parishioners Diane Rasmuson and Betsy Holmquist got to know Fleischer about 10 years ago when she started donating items to church rummage sales and raffles. She never attended a church service, but met up with the gals for coffee sometimes.
“We were very fond of Vicki, and Vicki was fond of us,” Rasmuson says. She describes Fleischer as outgoing, friendly, often bubbly, and certainly eccentric. Vicki’s hobbies ran the gamut. She collected European furniture and yard flamingos. She enjoyed the symphony, PBS, cruises, equestrian competitions, Edward Gorey and Freddie Mercury. She loved dogs and cats.
Her obituary on Legacy.com paints a portrait of a career-oriented, passionate woman from a generation where that was an unusual path for women to take.
Plenty of other people in Missoula won’t soon forget Fleischer, including the Humane Society of Western Montana, where Executive Director Marta Pierpoint says, “I would do pretty much anything in honor of Vicki.” She remembers Fleischer as a dedicated supporter of the Humane Society, the kind of member and donor who would actually show up to meetings and liked to drop by the office and chat every so often.
In the last few years of her life, after her husband’s death, Vicki’s most beloved (living) companion was a rescue cat named Scooter. “Scooter was quite the character, he’s an orange tabby. He was her pride and joy,” Pierpoint says. He even made it to the adorable pic that ran with Fleischer’s obit.
Fleischer’s health was poor in her final years and during a months-long hospital stay, Scooter was cared for by a volunteer with the Humane Society’s Community Care program. “The fact she could go back to Scooter when she recovered was probably her biggest motivator for pulling through the hospital rehab and going home,” Pierpoint says.
Scooter, like Fleischer’s bears and everything else she owned, had to find a new home after her death at the end of May. Scooter returned to the Humane Society and was re-adopted to another loving home, Pierpoint says.
It’s hard to say why Fleischer wanted a church to receive all her bears, but it certainly seems up to the task. Rasmuson, as a chief Holiday Market organizer, agreed to store the collection and held a picnic party over the summer to label and organize everything. The women are hopeful that the bears will find appreciative new owners (and no longer fill Rasmuson’s house). Plenty of teddys have already been claimed by children at the church.
“I think Vicki knew that we would find homes for her bears,” Rasmuson says. “The bears were her family, and we would be the ones to find homes for her bears.”
Holy Spirit Episcopal’s Holiday Market, including the teddy bear sale, takes place Friday, Nov. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sat., Nov. 11, from 9 a.m, to 1 p.m., at 130 South Sixth Street East.
