Howard Wenberg

On September 17, 2015, Major Howard "Jack" Wenberg, USAF, retired, passed on. He fell mid-July and had broken his neck. He fought that injury, and the complications that followed, fiercely, as he fought any adversity in his life. He did lose the fight, and died peacefully with loved ones present. Memorial services for Howard will be held at 1:00PM, Thursday, September 24, 2015 at Covenant Presbyterian Church 875 Fremont Street, Lander, WY. Military honors will be accorded. Jack was born July 27, 1930. He was raised on a farm near Beach, North Dakota. He had one brother, and four sisters. There was an incident early, on the farm, involving all the children, and some gunpowder. They still argue over who did what, and why it exploded, but all survived. If you looked close at Jack's brother Dick, you could see the scars from a hayfork on his face. The family still owns the farm and it helped pay for reunions. The farm is worked by a man that genuinely cares about the land, and was raised just down the road. As the children graduated Beach High School they went to college, all six of them, an amazing achievement in that time. Jack talked once about how nervous he was, standing in the train station with just a few silver dollars in his pocket, leaving home for the first time. Jack went to the North Dakota Agricultural University that became the State University later. While obtaining his Degree, he joined the Air Force and became an Officer. On graduation he was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base, in Denver Colorado. He needed some extra money, and started selling knives door to door. One day he knocked on the right door and met a pretty, young teacher from Nebraska, named Marilyn. Soon after, he received orders for Germany. He asked Marilyn if she would wait for him. She said "no", so he said "I guess you better go with me then". They were married at the base chapel and the marriage would last over 60 years. When they returned from Germany, they started a family. Three boys were born in different places around the country, depending on where they were stationed. His military career was notable for his navigation on B52s, training air crews to evade surface to air missile fire by electronic interference, and aerial photo intelligence. He retired from the Air Force in Texas, and went back to college at Texas Christian University. The family moved to Camp Schuman Boy Scout ranch in Ft. Worth, where Jack worked as manager. The family next moved to Spearfish South Dakota, where Howard continued to work for the Boy Scouts, but then switched to teaching high school science. A new job at St. Stephens High School on the Wind River Reservation brought Jack and the family to Lander, Wyoming in 1978. One day, Marilyn, drew his attention to an advertisement, for a Science Teacher, in Guam. Off they went, spending a number of years back and forth, summers in Lander, and the school year in Guam. He spent some of those summers working as a team leader, clearing trails for the U.S. Forest Service, working once again, to teach young people, through the Youth Conservation Corps. He joined the Gideons in Guam, and went on missions to many islands in the South Pacific. He retired again and he and Marilyn had their car shipped back. Jack took great pride, driving it around Lander, Wyoming with its Guam license plates. He was active in Lander's Covenant Presbyterian Church, and kept the tenets of Christianity close, his entire life. He was active in Boy Scouts, guiding his sons, and the sons of others, through that program. All three of his sons attained the rank of Eagle Scout. He remained active in Gideons, the VFW, Kiwanis, and numerous other service organizations. He put the flags on Main Street for the 4th of July Parade, was a Master Gardener, and reintroduced quail to the area around St. Stephens As any outdoors-man Jack told great stories. When he worked for the Forest Service, he complained that the mosquitoes would hit the steam from his oatmeal, stop flying, and fall in it. When asked what he did about this, he replied, since he could only carry so much food, he would just stir them in for the extra protein. He borrowed a horse (he'd tell you that was a bad idea) and rode in above the falls in Sinks Canyon, near Lander, to go fishing. The horse bucked him off, and he broke his shoulder, and some ribs on his left side. He couldn't get back on the horse, so he walked it out, five miles. He loaded the horse in the trailer and then drove it back to pasture. He unloaded the horse, put the tack away, fed and watered the horse, unhooked the trailer, and then went to the emergency room. He and one of his sons were elk hunting near the continental divide, and got caught by nightfall. They spent the night, with not much more than a saddle blanket and a granola bar. The temperature dropped to -40 below zero, in Lander that night. When dawn came, the worried searchers found them eating bacon and eggs in an outfitters tent, wondering what the big deal was. He sank any number of canoes, he fell through the ice, he was chased by a Moose, a Grizzly Bear, and once by a bottle rocket. He broke his back, any number of ribs (some more than once), had a scar that looked like the mark of Zorro on top of his head, collapsed a lung, and had a heart valve replaced. Even though his back injury hunched him over, he stood tall, and except at the very end, stood back up, every time he was knocked down. If it had been up to him, he would have stood up again. Howard went to Church every Sunday, and prayed every day. His family was well cared for. He loved his family, he was always there for them, and they all knew it. He was not a father, he was a Dad, he was not a grandfather, he was Grandpa Jack. He loved horses, and enjoyed riding them, raising them, and taking care of them. He loved hunting, canoeing, hiking, gardening, cribbage, chess, and untangling fishing lines for his sons, and then for their children. He loved just being outside, for any reason. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Burness Wenberg, and Joan Schweigert, and his brother Richard "Dick" Wenberg. He is survived by his wife Marilyn, and his sons Peter, Chris (JoAnne), and Eric (Pamela), His grandchildren, Dakota, Taryn, Brian, Jason, Randi, and Brandon. His sisters, E. Faye Fuentes, and Sharon Hummel, his sister-in-law Mary Wenberg (brother Dick), and his brother-in-law Arnold Schweigert (sister Joan). He is also survived by lots and lots of nephews and nieces, and many, many, friends, all over the world. Based on his love, his accomplishments, his concern for people, and the Christian way he lived his life, there is no question to his family where he deserves to spend eternity.

Service

Thursday, September 24, 2015 1:00pm