Whitehall/Stevensville – Herbert Frank Wanke, 86, born June 14, 1928 to Peter L. Wanke and Louise (Kraniak) Wanke in South Athens, Wisconsin, died on December 19, 2014 from heart disease.
After serving in the Korean Conflict, Herb joined his dad in the shop at home in Athens, performing repairs for farmers and rebuilding snow blowers, snowmobiles, and TV towers. This talent for spatial reasoning and for working with his hands led to a career in carpentry where he would build several homes in Wisconsin before he met and married Theresa Marie King from Edgar, Wisconsin, on April 23, 1954. In July 1962, Herb, Theresa, and their family of five children moved to Missoula, Montana, where Herb would build houses for Tomlinson and Twite Construction companies. Three more children joined the family before Theresa succumbed to cancer on November 3, 1967.
Determined to keep his family together, Herb searched for a woman to help him raise his children. While attending Parents without Partners, he met a willing candidate in Kathryn R. (Schwab) Libra, whom he married on May 12, 1972. In 1973, the family moved to a 24-acre farm in Florence, Montana, where there was not only “elbow room” but acreage for growing a large garden, playing workup softball, and raising various animals and hay. Here, Herb raised all eight of his children before moving to Whitehall, Montana, in 2004.
Herb was a member of the Knights of Columbus and of the VFW.
Herb was a carpenter and an inventor. In his spare time, he enjoyed working in his shop, inventing gadgets and jigs that would simplify his work in construction and on the farm/ranch. Herb was also an avid hunter and fisherman, enjoying annual elk hunting and ice fishing ventures. His brothers and other family members would often join him in hunting camp, which Herb made comfortable with various inventions like hot and cold running water in camp, a game carrier, and a three wheeled trail bike for retrieving game. Although Herb tried to patent his trail bike design, which featured three in-line wheels and a special maneuver for climbing over obstructions like logs on forest trails, the patent was unsuccessful. Playing Sheepshead, a German card game, was another favored pastime.
Herb remodeled the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Florence by moving one old church from Stevensville to make a part of the east addition to the church in the mid-70’s and he built a special kitchen.
Herb is survived by his wife, Kathryn (Kaye), his eight children: Arthur (Barb) Wanke of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Bonnie (Ron) Kish of Cascade, Colorado; Cynthia Wanke of Marietta, Georgia; Donna (John) Miller of Chinook, Montana; Eileen (Matt) Eide of Whitlash, Montana; Floyd (Susan) Wanke of Great Falls, Montana; Genevieve (Carl) Smith of Durango, Colorado; and Gerald Wanke of Valley Village, California; three step-children: Joyce Libra of Brainard, MN; Stevie (Scott) Allen of Columbia, S.C.; Kathy (Tony) Fune of Sparks, NV; fourteen grandchildren; eight siblings; and numerous nieces and nephews; and three step great grandchildren.
A Vigil service will be 7:30 p.m. at the K&L Mortuary in Whitehall on Sunday, December 28, conducted by Father Tom Haffey, with Mass of Christian Burial held at 11 a.m. on Monday, December 29 at St. Theresa of Avila Catholic Church in Whitehall.
A visitation will be held on Tuesday, December 30 beginning at 10 a.m. at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Stevensville. Burial will follow at 12 noon at St. Mary’s Mission Cemetery with Fr. Matt Huber presiding. The Knights of Columbus Honor Guard will be in attendance as well as full military honors. Pall bearers will be his three sons, Arthur, Floyd, and Jerry; and friends, Tom Power and Gary Taylor and Robert Casagrande. Honorary pall bearers are his four sons-in-law and Don Lee. It was Herb’s wish to lie in the Bitterroot Valley to watch over the Historic St. Mary’s Mission complex, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 after the culmination of over four years of work by both local and state contributors. Much of the restoration work was performed or supervised by Herb, who was instrumental in saving the mission through both paid and volunteer work, as he restored the bell tower and several log structures.
Now he resides in the Lord’s home.