Burton O. Bosch, 76, a member of the Havre community for more than five decades, died in Mesa, Ariz., on Wednesday, Nov. 7., 2007, with his family was at his side.
The funeral service will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 807 N. Stapley Dr., in Mesa. Arrangements for a memorial service in Havre are pending. Burton was born Sept. 26, 1931, in Chinook to Carl and Hannah Bosch. Since childhood he was an active member of the 4-H, a passion he kept throughout his life, eventually becoming a member of the Montana 4-H Foundation and a member of its board of directors. He won the National FFA sward for public speech in 1949, the year of his graduation from Chinook High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Valparaiso University in 1953, and a Juris Doctorate. From the University of Montana School of Law in 1955. That same year he was selected as a delegate to Iran by the International 4-H Youth Exchange Program. Upon returning to the States he founded, with Fred Weber, the law firm in Havre that would become the center of his professional life for the next 50 years, now known as Bosch, Kuhr, Dugdale, Martin & Kaze. He was selected by Gov. Stan Stephens to serve on the Montana Board of Pardons and Gov. Mark Racicot appointed him to the board of directors of the Montana Historical Society. Burton was an active member of Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Havre, where he also served as a lay leader. He was appointed to the board of directors of the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd in Havre. He served on the board of governors of the Lutheran Laymen’s League, and he was for many years a member the board of trustees of Concordia College in Portland, Ore. With Myrt, his wife of 48 years, Burton loved to travel, and together they loved to host visitors from overseas. They made frequent trips to Europe, Asia, South America, and Canada. But Burton’s first love was always Montana, where he appreciated not just the spectacular beauty of Glacier Park, but the spare expanse of the high plains, especially in the foothills just south of Havre. He spent much time with his children and grandchildren at picnics and drives in the Bear Paw Mountains south of Havre. Burton is survived by his wife, Myrtle ( Flaskerud) of Mesa; daughters Judi (Kirk) Freudenburg of Hamden, Conn.; Kristi (Per) Tvedt of Puyallup, Wash.; sons Jim (Cindy) and Kurt Bosch, both of Winnemucca, Nev.; seven grandchildren, and sister Gladys Aman, of Big Sandy. Memorials may be made to the Montana 4-H Foundation, P. O.Box 173580, Bozeman, MT 59717 (www.4hfdn@montana. edu) or to the Montana Historical Society, P.O. Box 201201, Helena, MT 59620, (www. Montanahistoricalsociety.org).
