Russell "Russ" D. Verbael

Russell V. Verbael, LtCol, USMC retired, passed away on September 13, 2021, in Yuma, Arizona.He was best known as “Russ.”He was born in Great Falls, MT on December 1, 1940, to Theodore Verbael and Mabel Johnson.He lived in Dutton, MT, all his growing years, graduated from Dutton, then graduated from Northern Montana College in Havre, MT.During his teenage years he was very active in Boy Scouts and attained the rank of Eagle. Following graduation, Russ was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the Marine Corps, went to basic training in Quantico, VA, and then since he qualified, went to Pensacola, FL for flight training.Flying became one of his passions in life.After attaining his Wings (including carrier qualifications), he was assigned to HMM-165, the first CH-46 helicopter squadron, in Santa Ana, CA.This led to him going to the Vietnam War. He was there in ’66-’67, flying over 560 combat missions. He was shot down once, but thankfully made it back home after 13 months.Then he went again in 1970, this time flying OV-10s.In between those two tours, he was assigned as a flight instructor in Pensacola. While all of this was happening for him, Russ married Stella Matz in 1961 in Havre, MT and over the next six years became the father of three sons, Keith, Rick, and Mark.After Vietnam, he was assigned to New River Air Station in Jacksonville, NC in the OV-10 squadron.In 1974, he was given the opportunity to do a two-year tour in Taipei, Taiwan, being attached to Taiwan Defense Command, a joint service tour with a 3 Star Admiral in command.He was also the co-pilot of the Admiral’s aircraft, a C-118.He was allowed to take the whole family with him, and it was a wonderful experience for all.The greatest reward of all of this, was being able to adopt our daughter, Cindy.She joined the Verbael family when she was 12 days old.The Lord blessed us. Upon returning to the states, Russ had to follow up with an unaccompanied one-year tour in Okinawa. He was then assigned to Marine Corp Air Station, Santa Ana. During this time, he transferred back into helicopters, and was given Command of HMM-268 for a year.At the time of his retirement, he was the Base Operations Officer.During his time in California, Russ became very involved in street rodding, and was an organizer of the Orange County Cruise Association.The event became a big deal there and is still happening to this day. During these events he drove his ’32 Ford 5-window. Russ was anxious to take the challenge of civilian life and decided to get a franchise from Meineke Muffler & Brake. He ended up with two franchises but didn’t find being a civilian owner of a business all he thought it would be. After lots of hard work, employee retention issues, etc., he decided to sell, first one business, and then list the second.In the fall of 1989, Russ moved back to Dutton, MT.He soon found himself involved in his own old car business, Montana Collector Cars.Once again, he loved what he was doing and was successful at buying, repairing, and selling cars. With his love for airplanes, he soon became involved with the EAA and owning his own plane, a RV-4.For a short time, he had a T-18.He purchased a hangar next to Front Range Aviation and made many friends in the flying world until medical problems made him leave it behind. The first big tragedy to his family was in April 1990, when his oldest son, Keith, was killed in an auto accident in Utah while enroute to Dutton to visit the family.Then he lost his second son, Rick, in 2015.Until he decided to close the business, Russ traveled to many places delivering cars. He sold quite a few overseas to Holland, England, and New Zealand, and enjoyed the adventure.He could never quite get out of the business, so he was buying a car on his last mission when he passed away. He was preceded in death by his sons, Keith, and Rick; sister, Marci; and brother-in-law, George Kremer. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Stella; son, Mark of Cut Bank; daughter, Cynthia (Clark) LeDoux of Fort Worth, TX; grandsons, Kevin, Garrett, Chase, Patton, and Lester; and several nieces and nephews. There will be a memorial service in Dutton, MT on October 2, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. at the American Legion Hall. A burial ceremony led by the Marine Corp League will follow at the cemetery, and then a reception afterwards at the Legion Hall.