Hero comes to rescue of Tempe family struggling due to shutdown

TEMPE, Ariz. — We heard countless stories of pain and heartache during the government shutdown. Seven thousand Arizonans with federal jobs did not collect paychecks for a month.

But this story makes all of that suffering go away.

“This is hard, when you don’t know what you’re going to do,” Joseph Montague said earlier this month, before the shutdown ended, fighting tears at his Tempe home. “You don’t know how you’re going to make it.”

A heart attack and a stroke in 2014 left Montague, 41, disabled and unable to work full time.

“Because of my heart condition, I could pretty much go at any time,” Montague said his doctor told him.

Montague’s wife, a federal government employee, wasn’t paid during the 35-day shutdown. Their family of seven couldn’t make rent.

They’d packed their belongings and gotten ready to sell what they could.

But things changed last Friday.

That’s when Frank, after being moved by hearing Montague’s story on KTAR News 92.3 FM, came to the rescue.

“Come in!” Montague exclaimed as Frank, who used only his first name, walked up to his house.

When Frank met Montague and his landlord, Patrick Huber, in the house’s foyer, he told them that Montague’s story “really brought me back to when I was growing up with a large family, trying to make ends meet any way we could.

“I just wanted to help.”

Montague showed Frank the wooden dining and end tables that he built with his own hands before other bad luck struck.

“My saw recently broke, and my family realized the only way we were going to make it was with that saw,” he said.

Fortunately, they scrounged up $200 to buy a new table saw so he could get back to work.

Frank also learned of Montague’s determination to keep working from his garage, building furniture from repurposed wood.

“I can do nothing,” joked Frank, who also lives in Tempe. “If you put a hammer in my hand, you’re in big trouble.”

After the tour, Frank presented Montague a check to cover two months’ rent so he could catch up on other expenses.

“How much did you give up? What things did you not buy? Did you have savings? Did you draw out of your savings?” Frank asked, knowing that Montague made extra sacrifices during the shutdown.

Both men recognized that parts of the federal government could shut down again on Feb. 15, when temporary spending measures expire.

That would mean Montague’s wife would have her paychecks frozen again.

Montague could not be more thankful for Frank’s generosity.

“For us, it’s life-changing,” Montague said. “I will remember this day for the rest of my life.”

Frank said he had an agenda for this story.

“I hope that it encourages others to do the same thing,” he said.

And Montague has a new mission.

“One day, I’ll be able to do the same for someone else,” he said.

“You will,” Frank said. “I’m sure you will.”

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