{"id":33109,"date":"2026-04-27T12:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/?post_type=case&p=33109"},"modified":"2026-05-01T11:34:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T17:34:27","slug":"erwin-c-swede-schock-age-90-of-helena","status":"publish","type":"case","link":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/obituaries\/erwin-c-swede-schock-age-90-of-helena\/","title":{"rendered":"Erwin C. “Swede” Schock, age 90, of Helena"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":{"0":"post-33109","1":"case","2":"type-case","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"fields":{"first_name":"Erwin","middle_name":"Clare","last_name":"Schock","date_born":"03\/09\/1936","date_died":"04\/23\/2026","age":"90","city":"Helena","state":"Montana","full_obituary_text":"

Erwin Clare Schock Jr., better known as \u201cSwede\u201d to everyone, passed away on Thursday April 23rd<\/sup>, 2026, shortly after his 90th<\/sup> birthday, surrounded by family and friends.\u00a0 He joins his loving wife Barbara, his parents, his siblings, and his oldest son in heaven.<\/p>\n

Swede was born on March 9, 1936, in Billings, Mt., to Claribel and Erwin Schock Sr.\u00a0 He was the third of four children and spent a lifetime enjoying the company of Elsworth (Lou), Freda Mae, and Thomas (TJ), all of whom have preceded him in death.<\/p>\n

Swede married Ethyl Andersen in 1956, and they had two sons Gary (deceased) and Larry. They later divorced in 1964.\u00a0 Swede worked at many professions until he found his calling at the State Department of Revenue.\u00a0 He owned and operated a Billings gas station with his brother TJ, drove a semi while working for the Mayflower Moving Company, sold farm equipment for his good friend Oscar Cook at Wymont Farm Equipment Sales, and owned and operated his own gas station in Billings.\u00a0 After retiring from the State, he continued in the appraisal business and helped make it into a family business.<\/p>\n

Swede met Barbara Jean Abel in Billings, and they were married on March 21st<\/sup>, 1970, where they lovingly blended their two existing families and 7 kids together.\u00a0 Swede was the rock of the family who was always generous with his love, his time, and his life lessons.\u00a0 He was always willing to share his life experiences as a lesson for what to do, and more importantly for what not to do.\u00a0 He was always quick to lend a helping hand to family and friends in their time of need.\u00a0 While he was a man of spiritual faith, he was also a man with great faith in mankind.\u00a0 No matter what circumstances, or what mistakes may have been made, he always saw the good in people and made it his mission to try and help them out of, no matter what situation they found themselves in.<\/p>\n

He loved his time working in his garden and yard, puttering around his garage, going to auctions and garage sales.\u00a0 Whenever you asked him why he bought something, he would give you that wry smile and simply say, \u201cYou never know when a guy might need that\u201d.\u00a0 Swede will be missed by many.<\/p>\n

He is survived by his many children Cindy (Phil) Knapp, Curtis (Cheri) Abel, Melody (Steve) Reich, Brian (Wendi) Abel, Larry (Debbie) Schock, and Chris (Elisa) Schock. He is also survived by many grandkids, great grandkids, one great great granddaughter, nieces, and nephews, too numerous to mention.<\/p>\n

Swede will be missed by all who knew and loved him.\u00a0 However, he will live on in our hearts, our thoughts, and will live forever in our memories.\u00a0 He is not gone; he has simply gone from watching out for us to watching over us from Heaven.<\/p>\n

We love you dad, grandpa, and Uncle Swede<\/p>\n

Memorials in Swede’s name are suggested to the Lewis & Clark Humane Society P.O. Box 4455 Helena, Montana 59604<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Erwin-Schock.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Celebration of His Life","event_date1":"2026-05-23","start_time1":"11:00 a.m.","end_time1":"","location1":"Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home","address1":"3750 N. Montana Avenue","city1":"Helena","state1":"Montana","zipcode1":"59602","event_title2":"Reception","event_date2":"2026-05-23","start_time2":"Immediately following the Service","end_time2":"","location2":"Social Center of the Funeral Home","address2":"","city2":"","state2":"","zipcode2":"","event_title3":"Inurnment","event_date3":"","start_time3":"Private Burial with Family Present","end_time3":"","location3":"Columbarium Niche at Forestvale Cemetery","address3":"","city3":"","state3":"","zipcode3":"","event_title4":"","event_date4":"","start_time4":"","end_time4":"","location4":"","address4":"","city4":"","state4":"","zipcode4":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/33109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}