Walter Bruce Doering was born to Julius and Magdelen Doering December 28, 1917 in Goodrich, ND. He passed away at St. Peter\u2019s Hospital on July 12, 2011 following complications from pneumonia. <\/p>\n
He grew up and attended public school in Goodrich, graduating from high school in 1935. He decided to stay out of college for a year, working for his father in their hardware store. In the fall of 1936, he enrolled in Pre-Dentistry at North Agricultural College in Fargo. He had to work his way through college. He sold shoes at J.C. Penney\u2019s earning 28 cents per hour. In 1938, Walt was accepted at Northwestern University Dental School in Chicago. He graduated with honors in 1942 in the top five percent of his class. He was elected to Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honorary Society. <\/p>\n
He was a dental instructor at Northwestern for one year. He obtained his dental license to practice in Illinois, Minnesota and Montana, but decided to practice in Helena. In 1945, he married Elizabeth \u201cBetty\u201d Schuyler. In 1948, Walt, Betty, and daughter, Betsey returned to Chicago where Walt earned his Master\u2019s degree in Orthodontics. They returned to Helena and he entered a dental practice with brother Gordon and Dr. P.H. Radley at 907 Helena Ave. Other associates included Dr. John Madsen, Dr. H.L. Jones, Dr. C.D. Spurgin, Dr. Gary Mehelish, and Dr. Robert Fritz. Walt maintained a second office in Butte, working with Dr. E.J. Guay.Walt retired in 1987. <\/p>\n
Walt, Betty and Betsey enjoyed spending winters in Arizona. When Walt was 90, he fell in his home and broke his neck. He spent four months in Great Falls in the hospital rehab unit and then at his niece, Francie\u2019s home recovering and doing physical therapy. At his one year check-up, Walt asked his doctor if he could get back on the golf course. After his doctor\u2019s approval, Walt went out and practiced a couple of times. He and his nephew, Chuck, started playing golf and on his third time out, Walt finally hit his first Hole-in-One! His nephews, Chuck, Bruce and Tom were just as excited as Walt was. He continued to golf until 2010. <\/p>\n
Walt was a member of many charitable and professional organizations. He received special training at the Cleft Palate Institute of Lancaster, PA and Northwestern University. He was a long-time member of the Green Meadow Country Club. In 1968, he was the first dentist to be selected by the Montana Public Health Association for Distinguished Service. <\/p>\n
Walt was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Betty; sister, Harriet; and brothers, J.R., Bob, and Gordon. <\/p>\n
He is survived by his loving daughter, Betsey; nephews, Chuck, Bruce and Tom Doering and their families and Bill Reynolds and his family; nieces, Francie Robertson, Mimi Mantele, Randy Turpie, Shirlee Johns, Susan Kavran, Mary Carstangen, Susan Thomsen, Melissa Suits, and Sandra Romaine and their families; and numerous grand nieces and nephews. <\/p>\n
A Memorial Service will be 2:00 p.m. Saturday, July 30, 2011 at St. Peter\u2019s Episcopal Church with a reception to follow at the Waterford, 915 Saddle Drive at 3:00 p.m. A private interment will take place at Sunset Memorial Gardens. Memorials are suggested to Hospice of St. Peter\u2019s c\/o St. Peter\u2019s Hospital, 2475 Broadway, Helena, MT 59601; Easter Seals, 1100 Road Runner St., Helena, MT 59602; or to a memorial of your choice. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting: www.aswfuneralhome.com. <\/p>\n
Walt was a loving and generous man. He was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/415379_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\/882","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=882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}