Ray Fencepost Lybeck, 83

Ray Fencepost Lybeck passed away Dec. 4, 2009, at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls. He was born Aug. 12, 1926, on the family homestead east of the sweet grass hills to Karen Koll and Hans Lybeck. He attended first through eighth grade at Laird Elementary School near Chester, followed by a year at Mount Ellis Academy in Bozeman. Ray joined the United States Army in 1943 and did a three-year tour as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne. After the war he attended welding school in Oregon. Hans and Karen relocated to the Flathead Valley in 1948 and Ray came as well; he continued to work with his dad on the farm. In addition to farming he worked on the construction of Hungry Horse Dam alongside of his brother, Willard. In 1951 he married Cleona Tommy McClelland and they started a dairy in 1952. Ray served on the Helena Flats School Board for 14 years, on the Calvary Lutheran Church Council for nine years, as the area trustee for the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, as a member of the State of Montana Prison Board, as a member of the memorial board of Montana Veterans Home, as a board member of the United Way and Red Cross, as a member of the Kalispell City-County Planning Board, as a member of the Montana Dairyman s Association, and as a past president of the Western Dairy Conference. In 1981 he was elected to the state legislature, where he served as a representative for a term followed by two terms as a senator. He retired from dairy farming in 1999, and continued to farm and ranch in the Flathead Valley with his sons. Ray was preceded in death by his parents, Karen and Hans; two brothers, Harold and Clifford; sister, Cora; and two sons, Dale and Daryl. He is survived by his wife, Tommy; brother, Willard, and his wife, Shirley; sons, Dan and his wife, Ann, Duane and his wife, Joanne, and Dirk; his daughter, Monica, and her husband, Greg; 11 grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 7, at Calvary Lutheran Church, with the Rev. Kurt Rau officiating. Burial will follow services at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery with full military honors. The family suggest memorials be sent to Calvary Lutheran Church, 2200 U.S. 2 E., Kalispell, MT 59901; or to the Montana Veterans Home, 400 Veterans Dr., Columbia Falls, MT 59912. Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home is caring for Ray s family. You are invited to go to www.jgfuneralhome.com to view Ray s guest book, offer condolences and share memories.