Walter Henry Hess, 93, of Havre died March 6, 2008, at a Havre hospital of natural causes.
A funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m., Friday, March 14, 2008, at the First Lutheran Church in Havre with Pastors Brad Ulgenes and Mike O’Hearn officiating. Burial will follow at the Calvary Cemetery. A fellowship reception will follow at the First Lutheran Church. Services are under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home in Chinook. Walter was born Oct. 15, 1914, to Harmon and Viola (Emery) Hess in Valley City, N.D. Harmon came to Montana the spring of 1925 driving a new Model “T” Ford. A few months later Walter and his mother arrived by train to join him. They rented the Oberg place as their first home in the area. He attended the Grain Belt School. In 1939 he met and married Viola Geringer, they had one daughter, Minerva May. The couple later divorced. In 1942, he met and married Katherine Paurray; and that ended in divorce in 1959. He married Edna Larson Feb. 20, 1964. Walter spent two years in the Army, all overseas, and was wounded in action. The day he was discharged from the hospital the war ended. After the war he returned to Montana and went into partnership with John Leistner in the trucking business. After several years John bought Walter’s share and Walter went to work in the oil field just out of Sunburst for the Texas Company for 10 years. He then went to work for the Taber Truck Lines hauling gasoline and diesel fuel until his father passed away in 1958. He then returned to take care of the farming duties until he retired in 2001 and turned the farming responsibilities over to his grandson, Troy Seaberg, and moved into Havre. Walter was a member of the First Lutheran Church, chairman of the North Central Montana Credit Union until they merged with the Bear Paw Credit Union, and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Sons of Norway, Havre Lodge #55 A.F. & A.M., and the Algeria Shrine. Walter is survived by his wife, of 44 years, Edna Hess, daughters Minerva May Wilson of Great Falls, Myrna (Jim) Sparks and Janice Larson both of Tacoma, Wash., and Sonya (Bob) Hughes of Dodge City, Kan., son Jerry Larson of Honolulu, Hawaii; and son-in-law Bill Seaberg of Havre, and several grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents Harmon and Viola Hess, and a daughter Sandy Seaberg. Memorials in Walter’s honor may be made to the First Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 66, Havre, MT 59501; or to the Shrine Hospital for Children, P.O. Box 2472, Spokane, WA 99210-2472.
