DALE PHILLIP HERBORT Obituary (1955

Dale Phillip Herbort, Age 60, of Eureka, MT, died on Friday, February 19, 2016. He was born on May 20, 1955 in Cincinnati OH to Victor and Anne Herbort, the youngest of 4 children. He spent much of his childhood and teen years in the country in Ohio, learning about things such as gardening, 4H, insect collecting, and arrowhead collecting. The latter became his first real love and inspired an education and early career centered on archaeology. He graduated from Kent State University with a Masters degree in Anthropology, and eventually moved to Butte MT in 1979, working as a cultural resource consultant. Dale moved to Helena MT in 1986 and began working for the State of Montana as an abandoned mine reclamation specialist. He was responsible for the clean-up and reclamation of many of the hazardous mine areas in Montana, and loved his job. Dale married Susan Ketchum in Helena in 1987, and gained an instant family which included son David and daughter Rachel. Dale and Susan moved to York, just outside of Helena, in 1990, and lived there in their little house on the creek until 2008, when he accepted a job offer from the federal Office of Surface Mining, and moved to Casper, WY. Dale retired in 2013, and moved to Barnaby Lake, just outside of Eureka, MT. Dale loved to travel, loved to talk, was interested in science, rocks and minerals, politics and ideas, and was intellectually brilliant. He was a technician and an artist in his hobbies, the major one being flintknapping. He was loving and loyal, a man of faith in Christ. He was helpfully bossy, and he was almost always right. Dale faced many challenges in his life. Some of them were exciting, and some were terrifying. A motorcycle accident that almost took his life as a teen. A war that broke out on the island of Cypress, where he was doing an archaeological dig sponsored by National Geographic. The challenge of a 20 plus year career in public service. Being the step-father in a blended family. A trial with throat cancer, chemo, and radiation, and the final challenge of COPD. Dale met all of the challenges with bravery and dignity, remaining a man of character and faith, discipline and love. He was deeply loved and respected by his family and friends, and has left the world a better place for having walked on it. He will be truly missed. Dale is survived by his wife Susan Ketchum, son David Horsley, daughter Rachel DeVore, grandson Kyle DeVore, his sisters Phyllis Griley and Doris Walker, and extended family. He was preceeded in death by his parents, and his brother Tom. Interment of Dale's body will be at 11 AM on Wednesday, February 24, 2016, at the Tobacco Valley Cemetery in Eureka MT, immediately followed by a memorial service at the Border Crossing Cowboy Church in Eureka. Arrangements are by Schnackenberg & Nelson Funeral Home in Eureka. online condolences and memories may be shared at www.schnackenbergfh.com. "...and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12:7