Maynard
L. Norenberg, age 70, of Shelby, died Friday, January 26, 2007 due to
natural causes. A vigil service will be held at 7 p.m., Tuesday, January 30th
at the Whitted Funeral Chapel in Shelby. Funeral Mass will be 11 a.m.,
Wednesday, January 31st at St. William Catholic Church in Shelby with
burial to follow in Mountain View Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the
family at
www.whittedfuneralchapel.com.
Survivors include his wife Elizabeth “Betty Lou” Norenberg of Shelby; son, Randy (Jackie) Norenberg of Somers, MT; daughters, Vicky (Mark) Warila of Shelby and Nancy Norenberg of Boston, MA; grandchildren, Chantell (Vince Rieger) Norenberg of Kalispell, Clint Norenberg of Somers, Scott Schoenen of Vancouver, WA and Lance Schoenen of Shelby and a great-grandson, Mason Rieger of Kalispell as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and a sister.
Maynard was born on June 22, 1936 to Ray and Cecelia (Richter) Norenberg in Havre. In 1943, his family moved to Ferdig, MT where he attended school. In 1948, they moved to Oilmont where he graduated from high school in 1955. In 1956, he married Betty Lou Silberman in Shelby. They had three children, Randy, Vicki and Nancy.
He worked in the oilfields until 1958 when they moved to Shelby and Maynard worked for Hannah & Holmes as their Farm Machine Service Manager. In 1967, Maynard and Betty Lou opened Toole County Farm Implement farm machine and GMC truck dealership. In 1994, due to poor health, he retired and sold the business.
He was a Marias Fair volunteer since 1958 including serving on the Fair’s Board of Directors, serving as Racing Director for a time and was elected Fair Person of the Year in 1999. He was a member of the Rocky Mountain Fair Association, served on the Shelby City Council from 1975-1983 and was awarded the Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year. He also received a Distinguished Award from the Shelby Fire Dept. in recognition of his services to the department.
He enjoyed hunting with his children and grandchildren; he was famous for his jerky that he would make for their hunting trips. He also enjoyed spending time with his horses and teaching Chantell how to ride. He loved to follow his grandkids activities and sporting events, including watching Clint ride his motocross, and just spending time with all of them. The grandkids, nieces and nephews always knew they could find candy in Grandpa Maynard’s shirt pocket. He also enjoyed traveling to Boston to visit Nancy and to Portland to visit Scott. When he was supposed to be resting at home, he was always teaching Lance something new. Recently he had a new enjoyment and that was playing with his great-grandson, Mason.