Dennis Duane Schwecke Obituary March 5, 1961 – July 22, 2025
“Life is a series of meetings and partings, that is the way of it.” It is with great sadness that we announce the parting of Dennis Duane Schwecke from this earth.
Dennis was born March 5, 1961 to Duane and Esther (Enneberg) Schwecke. He grew up in Great Falls and spent many summers working on the family farm outside of Kevin, Montana. He had many happy memories from his time spent with grandparents and uncles on the highline. It’s where he learned to drive and work on machinery, which turned into his passion in life.
After graduating from CM Russell High School in 1979 he moved to Butte to study Petroleum Engineering at Montana Tech. He was fascinated with the rich history of Butte and had many colorful stories about researching it’s great, and not so great, past.
Upon graduation from the Montana Tech in 1983, Dennis moved to the Houston Texas area to work for Shell Oil Company. That’s when he came to the conclusion that there is a big difference between having a job and having a passion for a job. His passion early on was Ford automobiles and figuring out how they work. To pursue his passion, Dennis left Houston to study Automotive Engineering at Northern Montana College. Upon graduating, he moved to Dearborn, Michigan to work for Ford Motor Company where he remained until he retired. While working for Ford, Dennis volunteered at the Ford Museum and was active in several local groups where he met many close friends.
His greatest achievement in life was helping to restore the famous Red Buses in Glacier National Park. Dennis spearheaded the effort to restore the buses to keep them working and maintain the long tradition of visitors seeing the Glacier vistas from the open top vintage buses. He was able to get support from Ford to help with the restoration and keep the Red Bus legacy alive. There are books written about the restoration effort and he is mentioned throughout, so I won’t detail his efforts here. Suffice it to say, if it weren’t for Dennis, one of the most iconic experiences in Glacier would have vanished forever. He attended the dedication ceremony with his proud parents in September 2002
After Esther and Duane passed, Dennis moved back to the family home in Sun Prairie where he had the opportunity to work on his many project cars. He was an active member of the Sun Prairie Water District until his passing this week.
One of Dennis’s favorite pastimes was traveling with family to many international and domestic locations. He loved to travel and experience new adventures with family. I’m sure many of you have great stories of shared times traveling together.
Dennis leaves behind many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends too numerous to list. Know that he loved you all and did not want to leave, but alas he must.
A Celebration of Life will be held in the Rose Room Chapel of Croxford Funeral Home on Saturday August 16th, 2025, at 11 AM. Please bring any memories you have to share with others and raise a glass to a life well lived. To share your condolences with the family, please visit www.croxfordfuneralhome.com
Author: Staff
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