Douglas George LeBrun, 74, a long-time educator and coach went to be with the Lord Wednesday, March 9, in Helena due to an aneurysm. He was born in Ronan, Montana , in 1936.<\/p>\n
From the time he was young, Doug had a passion for sports. This interest paid off after he graduated from Ronan High School, when he attended the University of Montana on a baseball scholarship.<\/p>\n
After graduating from the UM, Doug first taught and coached at Judith Gap, thus the beginnings of an illustrious coaching career. During his 10 years as a football, basketball and track coach at Lewistown\u2019s St. Leo\u2019s High, his teams captured eight conference titles.<\/p>\n
When Doug moved to Helena, his love for pole vaulting blossomed. As an HHS track assistant during four decades, he mentored 14 state champions and two state record holders, while operating a nationally renowned summer pole vault camp at his ranch in the Helena Valley.<\/p>\n
He became a nationally prominent figure in the vaulting community, and befriended many of the sport\u2019s greatest athletes and coaches. \u201cDoug will be greatly missed, he was a big part of Helena\u2019s pole vault success,\u201d Olympian Stacy Dragila wrote, upon hearing of his passing. \u201cHe was a great friend with a big smile.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doug was a member of the Montana Coach\u2019s Association Hall of Fame and had recently been elected to the Helena Sports Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
Doug was preceded in death by his parents, Louis F. and Alice V. LeBrun, his Aunt Louise Grund, and brothers, Eugene and Ted LeBrun. He is survived by his brother, Walter LeBrun (Elliston) and sister, Martha Haverkamp (Joliet), numerous nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and several great-great nieces and nephews.<\/p>\n
Viewing hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday, March 14 at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home. A vigil service will be held 7:00 p.m. Monday, March 14 at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
Funeral Mass will be 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 15th at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church. Burial will be 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Ronan Cemetery in Ronan. Memorials in Doug\u2019s name are suggested to any youth sports organization of the donor\u2019s choice or to Our Lady of the Valley Youth Ministry. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.aswfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/332041_profile_pic.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/784","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=784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}