HERSCHEL FOX obituary

Herschel Fox, 86, retired farmer/rancher, former Hill County Commissioner and a lifetime residence of this area, died unexpectedly Monday, Dec. 8, 2003, at his residence.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 15, 2003, in the Fifth Avenue Christian Church with burial following in the Highland Cemetery.

Herschel

was born on Aug. 29, 1917, at the family homestead 15 miles southeast of Havre on Clear Creek in Blaine County to Clyde and Bessie (Spoonemore) Fox. He attended Sprague School through the eighth grade and completed one year of high school in Chinook.

During the Depression Years, he would ride the rails to Waitsburg, Wash., to work in the wheat fields.

Herschel met Alice Sargent of Chinook and they were married on June 11, 1938, in Malta. They made their home at the Milk River Coal mine 2 miles northwest of Chinook for the next six years. Herschel trucked coal in the winter months as far east as Glasgow, Fort Peck and west as far as Kalispell. He trucked grain, hay, livestock and followed road construction in the summer.

In 1944 he and wife Alice moved to Havre. They operated a grain and cattle ranch northwest of Havre for the next 37 years, along with a dirt moving business. Herschel was elected county commissioner in 1962 and served one six-year term. He and Alice then moved out to the farm and lived there until 1998, when they moved back to their home in Havre.

Herschel was instrumental in developing the commercial property on West First from Rocky Mountain Packing west to Ezzie's Wholesale Bulk Plant on the south side of the highway by filling the swamp from 6 feet to 14 feet and building two large commercial buildings. While county commissioner he helped create the Beaver Creek Park Board and the Museum Board and was a charter member of each. He was instrumental in the development and fencing of the Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump. He helped in getting Bureau of Outdoor Recreation funds for the City of Havre's new swimming pool, Beaver Creek Park and the buffalo jump. He was a strong member of the Sixth Avenue Christian Church, serving on the church board for many years and on various committees's and as Board chairman several terms. Herschel played a large roll in planning and developing the new Fifth Avenue Christian Church. He was a lifetime member of Masonic Lodge No. 55. Herschel and his wife Alice were avid elk hunters and went every year for years with saddle horses, packhorses and campers and many friends.

Herschel is survived by his wife Alice Fox of Havre; daughter, Karen Marie Fox (Tom) Demes of Juneau, Alaska; grandchildren Wade Fox of Bozeman; Teresa Fox Kreiter of Billings; great-grandchildren, Justin Fox of Bozeman, Riley Hughes of Grass Range, Tyson Kreiter of Billings, brother, Harold F.F. Fox of Edgar, Neb .; numerous nieces and nephews; numerous cousins, including Wayne Spoonemore, 102, of Fort Benton; and countless friends throughout the country.

He was preceded in death by his parents, son, Dennis Fox on April 13, 2002; sisters, Aletha (Hubert) Sprague, Vera (John) King and Emma Jane (Loren) Duked; and brother Gordon (Alice) Fox.

Memorials may be sent to the Havre Senior Citizens Center.

Arrangements are by Edwards Funeral Home of Chinook.