Loren Wesley Davis, age 91, of Helena

Loren Wesley Davis (91)

March 19, 1934 – January 31, 2026

Loren W. Davis was born in Somers, MT on March 19, 1934, as the middle child of William V. (Tine) Davis and Blanche J. (Stevens) Davis. He joined older brother, Delmar and older sister, Narcheta and was later followed by Twyla and Kenneth. He lived his entire life in Montana aside from the years he served in the U.S. Army which started on his birthday, 1954.

After his discharge from the Army, he moved to Great Falls and went to work as a service technician for Anderson Office Machines on January 2, 1957. He met Avis Stockstad through his sister, Narcheta and they were married on August 24, 1957. While they were living in Great Falls, his sons Wesley A. and Joel W. Davis were born and Loren moved into sales with Anderson Office Machines. In the summer of 1961, Loren moved with his family to Helena to open a branch office, running the business out of his home.

As the business grew, so did his family with the birth of his sons, Brett D. and Darrell L. Davis. In 1967, Harry Anderson asked Loren if he’d like to purchase the Helena branch office. The transfer happened on January 1, 1968, and Loren renamed the company Davis Business Machines, Inc. He did sales in the morning and service in the afternoon, using his garage as his home base and Avis was the bookkeeper. They did this until Loren realized he needed help that summer. He’d gotten the contract with the Helena School District to clean all their typewriters, so he hired his first employee, Dale Firman.  In 1970, he purchased his first office space at 637 Helena Ave., and the company began to grow. Branches were opened in Bozeman in 1972, followed by Great Falls in 1973 and Butte in 2000. In the Spring of 1980, the company outgrew their space in the Helena location and moved into the Larson Building at 1429 Helena Ave. He would eventually end up with up to 36 full time employees and cover the center of Montana from Canada to the north and Wyoming to the south.

While Loren was busy building his company, he was also contributing to his community. Through the years, he was involved in various organizations, such as the JayCees, Helena Elks Lodge, and Helena Lions Club to name just a few. It was some of the entities that he helped get started or restarted that touched his heart the most. In 1972, he and Terry Harris started the Montana Office Machine Dealers Association so Montana dealers could have a voice with the National Association. He had served on the board of the Helena Property Owners Association whose purpose was to be a watchdog over the City and County governments’ spending and controls on private citizens. He helped start the Lewis and Clark County Veterans Memorial Foundation which took on the responsibility of management, maintenance and repair of the L&C Veterans Memorial in Memorial Park. Loren was also instrumental in reviving the St. Peter’s Hospital Harvest Ball and helping get the Liberty House Foundation started on the grounds of the VA. He also served on the Ft. Harrison Military Museum Board as well as the Military Affairs Committee of the Helena Chamber of Commerce.

If you were to ask him what his greatest joy was, he’d tell you it was his time serving the Last Chance Stampede. Loren started as one of the chairmen of the Parade committee but then moved on to be the Chairman of the Stampede. He served in that capacity for 20 years with Fritz Smith being his co-chairman for several years. There were many attractions added during his tenure including the carnival rides and the arena attractions between events. He helped make it more than just a rodeo, but an event for everyone to participate in and enjoy. In 2019, Loren was one of the initial inductees of the L&C Fairgrounds “Wall of Honor”.

His marriage to Avis ended in early 1980 and he married Judith A. McHugh in May 1981. That was about the time his company began hitting their quota marks to the degree that Loren was being honored with trips around the world by the Minolta Corporation Honor Council. Their first trip was to Paris, France followed with trips to Italy, Greece, London, China, Hawaii and Argentina just to name a few. He also exceeded his quotas with Ricoh Corporation for many years. He basically had one philosophy about business. If you take good care of your customers and your employees, they will take good care of you. That was well exemplified in the dozen or so employees that had left over the years, only to come back after they realized they had it better working for Loren Davis. He also refused to carry any products the company couldn’t service or provide supplies for.

Loren was very well respected by his community. He was a very patriotic, humble man who believed in his country, hard work and always helping others whenever he could. In 2018, after a good 50-year run, Loren decided to sell the company and turn over all his various committee engagements to the younger generations. By this time, he had been named “Montana Small Business Champion” of the year by National Federation of Independent Business in 2008 for his years of commitment to promoting small business. Davis Business Machines, Inc. also had the distinction of being the largest independent office machine company in the state of Montana.

There was so much more to Loren Davis than work and committees though. He was often quoted as saying there are 24 hours in a day: 8 for sleeping, 8 for working and 8 for playing. Loren enjoyed having a good time. In the early years, he spent President’s Day weekend with his siblings and their spouses on snowmobile adventures in Yellowstone Park. He enjoyed snow skiing, being out on the lake with his boat, travelling down the highway on his Harley, or just relaxing at his cabin in the Elkhorn Mountains. He enjoyed horseback riding – having been a member of the Helena Trail riders when he was a younger man. He got to see parts of the Bob Marshall Wilderness on a horse trail ride. Loren also enjoyed hunting big game, but that came to a halt after he had to pack a bull elk out by himself on one of his expeditions. There wasn’t much Loren wouldn’t try at least once and had many friends along the way who were comrades in the adventures.

In 2000, Loren lost his wife, Judy, to cancer and over the next few years, he also lost his sons Darrell and Wesley. Loren was also preceded in death by his parents, Tine and Blanche Davis; siblings Delmar (Evelyn), (Beth) Davis; Narcheta (Homer) Gibson, Twyla (Bob) Stratton and Kenny (Jackie) Davis.

He is survived by his sons, Joel Davis and Brett (Sheri) Davis; his stepsons, Scott (Shona) McHugh and Mark McHugh; his grandchildren Jori (Cody) Mummey; Devin (Wesley) Davis; Heather (Jeremy) Wittenburg; Alex McHugh; Tori McHugh, Ryan McHugh, and Kelsey McHugh; and several great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews that he adored. At the time of his death, he had also enjoyed a long-term relationship with Judy Golob who also survives him.

A memorial service in celebration of Loren’s life will be held 11:00 a.m. Monday, February 9, 2026, at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home 3750 N.  Montana Avenue, a reception will follow in the social center of the funeral home. Burial with military honors is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Committal Shelter at the Montana State Veteran Cemetery at Ft. Harrison, Montana.

Memorials in Lorens name are suggested to the Lewis & Clark Humane Society P.O. Box 4455 Helena, Montana 59604

Service Schedule

Celebration of His Life

11:00 a.m.

Monday February 9, 2026

Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home

3750 N. Montana Avenue

Helena, Montana

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Reception

Immediately following his Celebration of Life

Monday February 9, 2026

Social Center of the Funeral Home

,

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Burial with Military Honors

1:30 p.m.

Monday February 9, 2026

Montana State Veteran Cemetery

Fort Harrison, Montana

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