Anthony Paul Bucher

Born 1923 at St. Joseph Hospital in Lewistown Montana. His folks were living and farming five miles below Hanover Montana on Spring Creek. He started grade school at Amherst school district 104 which was across the road by their house. He was the third oldest of six. And by the time he was able to work he did a man’s job in the summer time, fencing in June, haying in July, harvesting in August and back to school in September. He started High School in the fall of 1937 at Fergus High in Lewistown. With his older brother Robert and older sister Esther they lived in town away from the ranch at a boarding house during the week than home to the ranch to help on weekends. This was quite a change from the 5 or 6 kids in grade school on the ranch to 700 students at Fergus High and 175 in his first high school class and then graduating with 118 of those four years later. He joined the Navy in January 1944 and was discharged in June of 1946. After getting out of the Navy he went to Alaska to work one summer and ended up long shoring on the Aleutian Chain, Adak, Shemya, Attu,& Amchitka working for different scrape outfits loading out seaplanes and shipping them out to mainland US. Another winter he sailed to Japan as crew member of an Army transport and saw the results of the Atomic Bomb dropped on Japan. After returning state side he resided on a ranch at Lewistown where he met Yvonne Josephine Shourds (Lorraine) who was in nurses training at St. Joseph Hospital in Lewistown and married her on Halloween 1951, Lorraine always said she didn’t know if it was a trick or a treat. In the spring of 1956 they moved to Geraldine, MT and bought a Meat Market and Locker plant with three young boys. He spent the next 16 years there involved with city council, American Legion, Pilgrim Masonic Lodge and became a member of Scottish Rite-Great Falls, and Algerian Shriners-Helena. He moved his family to Seattle in 1969, for better opportunities for his sons to work for Boeing on building 747s. He got caught in the big Boeing layoff in 1970 where the national news reported the last one out of Seattle shut out the lights. He got into real estate sales with a friend he met at Boeing and later they got into business together biding on FHA repos to be fixed up and resold by FHA. He continued in this business till he retired. In 1992 after Lorraine retired their idea was to move back to Montana, they picked Bozeman because it was a progressive growing community and also where 2 sons lived. He left Missoula at 6am and by 6pm he bought a new house middle of April 15th. Returned to Seattle to get moved back to Bozeman on April 29th leaving 1 son behind who left Seattle a year later for Bozeman. While in Bozeman both Paul and Lorraine became volunteers at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital. Paul continued with involvement with the organization he had previously been involved before leaving Montana Algerian Shrine Club, than joined as a member & later board member of Gallatin Shrine Club as well as a member of Livingston Shrine Club. He became a board member of Bozeman Senior working on the addition, joined the men’s garden club, Gallatin County committee on aging and a board member of AGR Alumni Alpha Delta Chapter. He was a great gardener as his yard was always full of flower beds and benches to rest while gardening, as he started slowing down his flower beds started being returned t grass. In 2012 they moved to Highgate Senior Living where they resided till Lorraine’s passing from COPD Oct. 4, 2013 at which time he moved to a smaller suite at Highgate and resided there till he passed on July 15, 2014 with his sons at his bedside. He was the last of his sibling being the middle child of Fred and Mary Bucher of Lewistown. He leaves behind 3 sons Michael (Jeanne), Patrick, Fred (Marge), 7 grandchildren, 5 great grand children. A passed on virtues of work ethics, home ownership, saving for a rainy day, and paying off mortgages. He would like to thank those helped him during his last year of struggles with living Veteran Adm. (PA MaryBeth) , Hospice of Southwest Montana (Joyce) and others who were there for him, also the First Choice caregivers who greeted him every morning and were with him with his last breath of life. Also he wanted to thank the Highgate Senior Living Care Partners who dealt with him and Lorraine during their declining health needs and support. You made a difference and we as a family felt your lost and comforted us in our loss as it meant a lot to know you cared for both our Mom and Dad when they needed you most. Memorials can be made to: Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Montana, 600 Bridger Drive Bozeman, MT 59715 or Shriner's Hospitals for Children®, Office of Development 2900 Rocky Point Drive, Tampa, FL 33607. Private services will be held. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.dahlcares.com