Keith Wm. Herrin was born in Helena, Montana on August 20, 1924 to Thomas H. and Marie (Clinkenbeard) Herrin.<\/p>\n
Keith passed on to his Heavenly Father on August 1, 2011 surrounded by angels.<\/p>\n
He was the fourth son in a family of five brothers; Harland, Gordon, Winton, Keith and Wayne, and lived most of his life on the Herrin ranch in the Helena valley. Keith was very proud of his Montana Pioneer heritage as a Great Grandson of Daniel S. Herrin, of Lincoln, who came to Montana from Canaan, Maine in 1866 (originally from Ireland) and also a Great Grandson of Thomas Sanford of Canyon Creek who came from Devonshire, England in 1870.<\/p>\n
He attended the Warren School in the Helena Valley and graduated from Helena High School in 1942. He loved to tell the stories about how he and his brother, Wayne, would ride their pony \u201cPeaches\u201d to school and during recess all the kids would get to ride the pony. He also would share the story about the 1935 earthquakes in Helena and how Warren School was closed and he and his brother Wayne, and also Bob, Roy and John Morgan had to go to school in a bunkhouse, thereafter becoming known as the \u201cBunkhouse Boys\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Herrin Ranch was known for its Polled Herefords, as the Herrin Dairy and later they raised grade cattle. The ranch also produced large potato and sugar beet crops. Keith worked on the ranch all of his growing up years and eventually became a partner in the operation with his mother and brother, Gordon.<\/p>\n
Keith had five daughters and one son; Marcia, Carol, Kitty, Mary, Laura and Keith Jr. from a previous marriage.<\/p>\n
Keith went into the field of ranch management, working as the cattle manager of large ranches in Wyoming, Missouri and Miles City, Montana.<\/p>\n
He married the love of his life , Shirley (Beaver) Baertsch on August 23, 1969 and they were blessed with a son, M. Keith and a daughter, Heather Anne. Keith also became a stepfather to Shirley\u2019s three children, Steven, Stacey and Susan Baertsch.<\/p>\n
Keith was able to utilize his training as an AI Technician at the largest registered Angus ranch in the state of Missouri. He then returned to Montana and managed a one hundred thousand acre ranch in eastern Montana, where he supervised thousands of acres of wheat production along with several thousand head of cattle. In 1976 he moved home to his beloved Helena Valley as a representative for the Moorman\u2019s livestock supplemental feed company. He serviced ranchers in four counties and enjoyed the friendships he made throughout the years he worked in that industry.<\/p>\n
After retirement Keith spent many years volunteering at Mount Helena Christian Academy where his son, M. Keith, and daughter, Heather, were students. He was a founding member of the Mount Helena Community Church in 1978 .<\/p>\n
Keith was a member of the Clover Club 4H club and was a delegate to the National 4H Conference in Chicago in 1939. He served as a 4H Leader for eleven years. He was an auxiliary member of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry. He was a Lifetime Member of the Helena Trail Riders, a member of the Montana Saddle Clubs Association and the National Saddle Clubs Association. He was a Lifetime Member of the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers and a member of the Marysville Pioneers. Keith served several terms on the Board of the Lewis and Clark Fairground Users group. He was a staunch Republican and was active in that realm of life.<\/p>\n
Keith spent his life breaking, training and competing on horses. His family was involved in the beginning years of the Helena Trail Riders Saddle Club, which evolved from just a pleasure riding group to being a founding member of the Montana Saddle Clubs Association (MSCA) and starting the sport of O-Mok-See in 1944. He competed in the first Montana State Championship O-Mok-See, hosted by the Helena Trail Riders in 1948 and also at the MSCA 50th Anniversary Championship Show in 1997.<\/p>\n
Keith served as President of the Helena Trail Riders in 1958 and again in 1997 and 1998. He served as the President of the MSCA in 1959 and 1960 and sat on the Board of Directors for decades. In 1965 he was able to fulfill a dream of founding a National Saddle Clubs Association (NSCA) and was elected to preside over that organization for three years. The NSCA held its 45th Annual Championship O-Mok-See in Kalispell, Montana in July of 2010. Keith was the National Champion in the Men\u2019s Division of the NSCA in 1997 and held the honor of being the Montana State Champion for nine years. He still holds the state record in two events, pole bending in 1979 and barrel & stake in 1981. One note of interest is that he had to compete with men as young as sixteen years of age in these events. All of his children, stepchildren and several grandchildren spent their summers competing in the family sport of O-Mok-See together.<\/p>\n
Keith was preceded in death by his parents, his four brothers, a son, Keith Jr. and a grandson, Evan King. He is survived by his loving wife, Shirley, his daughters; Dr. Marcia Herrin (Alan Strickland), Enfield Center, NH; Carol (Tom)King, Kitty Herrin (Bill Vaughn), Missoula; Mary (Darvin) Dent, Brookville, KS; Laura (Tom) McPherson, Wolf Point; Heather (Roland Schreibvogel), Sedgwick, KS; his son ; M. Keith (Tasha) Herrin; his stepsons; Steve Baertsch (Laurie Edwards), Stacey (Tanya) Baertsch all of Helena and stepdaughter, Susan (Bruce) Williams, Fort Worth, TX; five grandsons, Branch Strickland, Rafer King, Colter (Traci) Dent, Matthew Herrin and Dakota Schreibvogel; six granddaughters, Gretta Herrin, Ryley Dent, Amandalee (Jeremy)McKamey, Dillon McPherson, Faith Herrin and Hope Schreibvogel; five step grandsons, Doug, Casey, Colton, and Justin Baertsch, and Seth Bourquin; four great-grandsons; Nakia and Quincy King; Ryder and Colin Dent and one step great grandson, Mason Baertsch. Keith loved playing games with his grandkids and was out playing football and soccer with them clear into his 80\u2019s<\/p>\n
Keith is also survived by several nieces and nephews as well as a special nephew, John Herrin, Helena. He is survived by his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law; Don and Jane Beaver, Joyce Sturn, Nancy Archer, Larry Beaver, Phyllis and Dick Lamping, Carol and Dennis Dean, Glenda and Jerry Eenhuis, Ray and Ivy Beaver, Mary and Bing Crosby, Judy and Corky Harris, John Beaver and Clarice St. Clair, who loved him as if he were their own brother.Keith left a legacy of being a kind and gentle soul with a willingness to help anyone in need, whether it be a youngster needing help in handling a horse or a neighbor who needed assistance on their ranch. His children all benefited from his training in horsemanship as each and every one of them grew up to become accomplished competitive riders. He was a living legend on horseback and was loved by all who knew him. He cherished the friendships he had made in the Helena Trail Riders and the Montana and National Saddle Clubs Associations.<\/p>\n
When a young friend visited him at Cooney and told him she had a dream where she saw him in heaven, – he asked \u201cDid I get to see God on my horse?\u201d We\u2019re certain that his faithful friend of twenty-nine years and champion horse, \u201cTraveler\u201d, was there to meet him and take him on his final ride to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n
Our heartfelt thanks are extended to the staff at the Cooney Rest Home for their wonderful, warm, loving care during this past year.<\/p>\n
Memorials can be made to the Keith Herrin Memorial Fund at American Federal Savings Bank, 1400 Prospect Avenue, Helena, MT. or to a charity of the donor\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n
Memorial Services will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, August 6 at Mount Helena Community Church, 1710 National Ave. Helena.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/424244_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\/904","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=904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}