Herb Lerew passed away on December 28, 2015; he was 96 years old.
He was born on September 8, 1919 in Ipswich, South Dakota
to Isaac William and Ida May (Hall) Lerew.
His childhood was spent in the Jamestown area; when he completed the 9th grade he joined the CCC and worked at Lake Itasca, Minnesota.
He headed west around 1933 when he hopped a freight train to Minot an then on to Yakima. He found work at ranches in North Dakota and in 1936 hopped a freight train to Missoula, Montana – he would
have been around 17 years old at that time. In Missoula he got a job caring for an elderly man. He joined the CCC again and then moved to Port Angeles,Washington where he laid railroad tracks.
He moved to Seattle at the beginning of WWII and got a job at Boeing working on the wing section of the B17 Bomber. He left Boeing and joined the Carpenters Union in Tacoma and went to work for the Tacoma
Roofing Company. Herb was drafted into the US Army in 1943 and attended basic training at Camp Hood, Texas (now known as Fort Hood). He was then sent to Fort Hancock in Sandy Hook, New Jersey
and then on to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for MP training until 1945 when he was honorably discharged. Herb married Jannice Jennings on October 30, 1948 and they lived in Tacoma until 1963 when the family moved to a farm in the Creston area near Kalispell, Montana. In 1980 Herb married Donna Lynch and they remained together until she passed in April 2015. Herb lived a long and always colorful life. He has left a legacy
of hard work and resourcefulness and many, many stories will be passed on for years to come. He is survived by four daughters; Judy Gasco of Kalispell, Toni Wombles of Gresham, Ore., Cheri Lerew of Socorro, N.M.,
and Connie Faulkner and husband Lawrence of Kalispell; stepchildren Diana and Mike Hall of Helena, Mike and Edna Cotton of Kalispell, and Colleen and Chris Young of Vancouver ,
and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Every person who crossed his path surely has a story to share. There will be a viewing form 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on January 4, 2016 with funeral service at 2:00 p.m. Monday January 4, 2016 at Buffalo Hill Funeral Home. with burial
following the Service
at Glacier Memorial Gardens.