Obituary - Herbert "Herb" William (Brekken) Belcher

Herbert “Herb” William (Brekken) Belcher was born on June 28, 1932, in Zurich, Montana, the oldest son of Fred and Evelyn (Henderson) Belcher. He died on Oct. 28, 2015, in Hamilton, Montana, at age 83.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers, Earl Benedick and Donald Baines.

He is survived by five children, Earl Belcher of Saco, Celeste (Rod) Pogachar of Hamilton, Kent (Paulette) Belcher of Stevensville, Blaine (Laurie) Belcher of Missoula, and Laurel (Jeff) Furniss of Huson; seven grandchildren, Brian Belcher, Kyle (Cassie) Belcher, Ashley Lange, Candace (Chris) Goodman, Joshua Furniss, Jasmine Furniss and Jacob Furniss; two great-grandchildren, Connor Goodman and Kallianne Belcher.

Orphaned as a young boy, Herb spent his early years at the Deaconess Home for Children in Helena. He was adopted at the age of 12 by Norwegian immigrants Anders and Marit (Utigard) Brekken.

He graduated from Glasgow High School in 1950 and served in the U.S. Air Force. He trained as a radio communications engineer at Coyne University and the DeVry Institute in Chicago. He received further education at Northern Montana College, graduating in 1971. He was a master electrician.

Herb married Julie Romo on Aug. 31, 1957, in Glasgow, and to this union three sons and two daughters were born. They later divorced.

Herb was a quiet, soft-spoken man of few words who loved a story or trip down memory lane that ended in a good laugh. He had quite the sweet tooth and rarely passed by the Dairy Queen without making a stop.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Discovery Care Centre for their compassionate care during the last year of Herb’s life.

Daly-Leach Chapel is in charge of arrangements. No funeral services are planned. Herb’s remains will be interred at a later date in the family burial plot in Chinook.

Condolences for the family may be left at http://www.dalyleachchapel.com.