Wendel Runkel

Wendel Jack Runkel was born on September 3, 1931 to Norma Runkel in Kathio near Onamia, Minnesota and died suddenly of natural causes on May 17, 2011 in Helena, Montana.

His early years were spent in the Onamia area and Malta, Mont. He worked on the family farm and other ranches around Malta.

He enlisted in the Army at Havre, MT in 1949 at age 17 and trained in the Signal Corps School at Ft. Monmouth, NJ. He was transferred to Camp Stolman, CA and then to Tokyo, Japan where he joined the 3rd Division, 3rd Signal Company in Beppu, Japan in Oct. 1950. He arrived at Wonsan, Korea in Nov. 1950 from where the Chosin Reservoir offensive was being mounted. His unit was extracted back to Pusan in Dec 1950. He returned from Korea to San Luis Obispo, CA where he was honorably discharged as a Corporal on December 24, 1952.

After his time in Korea, he worked as a rural area power line installer around Malta, MT and was employed by Boeing working on the first generation of B-52 bombers. After this, Jack returned to the Malta area and worked on Tiber Dam near Chester as an oiler. This was the start of his lifelong employment as a heavy equipment mechanic. In 1956 he met Sandra Warehime in Cascade and they were wed on June 21, 1959. During this time he worked on multiple road jobs in the Helena area and throughout central Montana. After starting a family of a daughter and two sons he worked on the Libby Dam project then moved to Asotin, WA to work on Lewiston levees. From there he moved to Spokane, WA which was a home base while working on the Alaska pipeline. After the completion of the Alaska pipeline, Jack worked on numerous road jobs in eastern Washington and also at platinum and gold mines in Alaska and California. In 1990 he and Sandy moved to Kennewick, WA where he worked for two years at the Hanford Nuclear reservation until he retired from the Operating Engineers as a master mechanic in 1993 at the age of 62. He was a proud union member for 58 years.

After moving home to Montana and settling in Helena, Jack became active in Lewis and Clark Post 2 of the American Legion where he held the office of Sergeant at Arms. He was appointed as the White Cross Chairman for Post 2. In this capacity he built and installed many white cross highway markers in Lewis and Clark County. Jack was heavily involved in the move and restoration of the French Merci boxcar (40et8) currently located at the Ft. Harrison Military Museum. He was an active member of the American Legion for 41 years. In addition, he was a Life Member of VFW Post 10010, East Helena.

Jack enjoyed attending auctions, collecting and refurbishing all manner of small engines, outboard motors and cars that were later given to his 3 children or 5 grandchildren. He was particularly adept at utilitarian fixes to virtually any mechanical problem with a style that became known as “Runkelization”. He also enjoyed cultivating vegetables, especially immense amounts of potatoes and also loved to prepare for the annual family campout. He and Sandy travelled extensively around the Pacific Northwest and Northern California and he was a lifelong snowmobile enthusiast and was a member of the Ponderosa Snow Warriors in Lincoln.

Jack is survived by his wife of 51 years, Sandra Runkel; daughter, Wendy Hatchadourian (Tigard, OR) and her daughters, Tasha Underhill (Tacoma, WA) and Viktoria Hatchadourian (Tigard, OR); son, Mike Runkel (Livermore, CA) and his wife, Terry and daughter, Anna; daughter-in-law, Karen Runkel (Roy, WA) and her son, Daniel and daughter, Lucinda; and great-granddaughter, Randi. He is also survived by a sister, Sue Scott (Cambridge, ID). He was preceded in death by his mother, brother, Del Schumacher (Canby, OR) and son, Randy (Roy, WA).
The family will begin receiving friends 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 23rd with funeral services at 11:00 a.m. at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home. A reception will be held at the American Legion Post #2 on the corner of Villard and Custer immediately following the funeral service. A burial service with military honors will be held at a later date at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery at Ft. Harrison.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Montana Military Museum, P.O. Box 125, Fort Harrison, MT 59636 or American Legion Post 2 White Cross Program, P.O. Box 553, Helena, MT 59624. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting: www.aswfuneralhome.com.

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