Vance T. Warwick

Vance Thackeray Warwick, 98, died August 19, 2012. He passed away while a resident of the Aaron Care Home in Corvallis. He died of the complications of Parkinson's and old age.
Vance was born at home in Havre, Montana, January 7, 1914, the fifth of 7 children to Thomas and Rose Ellen (Thackeray) Warwick. All have passed away. His Grandmother, Barbara (McCormack) Thackeray died in her 90's and his mother died at 96 and two sisters lived into their 90's. His siblings were William James (Evelyn), Isabelle Jean (Walt) Conn, Sarah Ellen (Eric) Antonson, Thomas Arthur (Cecil), John Douglas, Barbara Mary (Robert) Kennedy.
Vance attended and graduated Havre schools and recalled as a Blue Pony football player the team traveling in the open box of a grain truck to play Kalispell. Tarps were provided if it rained.
Vance grew up during Havre's infamous Honky Tonk days and didn't miss many of the main events. He had stories galore. He got a ride on Long George Francis' Horse. He and pal, Roy Harada, watched a very serious fight between two men. Met a Herron boy to explore Fort Assiniboine. From age 6 on, he spent most summers at his Uncle Arch Thackeray's Ranch having showers under the Falls of Bullhook. He and long time friend Eugene Berry, hopped a freight train and tumbled off at East Glacier for a summer job on a fox farm. Working there, he had his first introduction to Glacier Park.
Vance had a 41 year career as a clerk and then as a truck driver with the Great Northern and Burlington Northern railroads. Previous to this he was a cowboy on his Uncle Arch Thackeray's ranch, at the P-Cross Ranch and on to the Blackwood sheep ranch while healing his frost bitten feet. He was in the CCC's in Northwestern Montana for 18 months. He had a stint working for cousin, Bee Lucke, making Hill County roads. Then he got on the crew building the transmission lines to Fort Peck from Great Falls. With the finish of that job he then went to work on the Dam. He was transferred to a new crew just before his old crew perished in a tunnel cave in. He went from working on the dam to the Railroad.
In 1938. while stationed in Malta with the GN he met and married Helen Marion Keith. Later stationed with the GN in Conrad, Montana they had 3 of their 4 children. Surviving children are, Vance Wesley (Rozanne), Orville Archie (Leslie) and Valerie B. (Kenneth) Reeves. Wife Helen M. and son Kenneth Neal preceded him in death. There are 10 Grandchildren and 11 great grand children. After Helen's death from a car accident, Vance married the widow Ethel Louise Carrington who had 3 children. They would also call him Dad. Ethel Louise and son James David (Jamie) Carrington survive him. Daughters, Carol Louise Carrington, and Jane Annette (Vern) Richardson preceded him in death. There are 4 more Grandchildren and 2 Great grandchildren. He is also survived by numerous nephews and nieces who all have made regular trips to the Hamilton area to see him.
A Mason, he was active with his first wife, Helen, in Eastern Star. He was a long time instructor and range master for the VFW JR rifle club in Havre. He was a steady Churchgoer attending Presbyterian and then Lutheran Churches. Shortly after retirement in Havre, he and Ethel, moved to a place on Skalkaho Creek in the Bitterroot Valley. One summer they had to evacuate because of a forest fire. They later became residents of Sapphire Homes and then moved to the very home like and great staff of the Aaron Care Home in Corvallis. They traveled widely but the trips to Glacier Park for camping, backpacking and Huckleberries were always a favorite. He cut and gathered his own wood into his eighties and could fell a tree precisely for the easiest access. He enjoyed seeing his kids and Grand children participating in sports. He was an avid cribbage player and constant reader of mostly western novels. His country humor, his stories, his hugs, his gentle, helpful ways, his prayers, and his heart felt phrase upon leavings, "May the peace of God be with you," will all be missed.