Walter M. Montgomery

Walter M. "Butch" Montgomery passed away on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 at his home. He was the son of the late Matthew and Lillian (Richards) Montgomery. Walt was the first Montgomery generation born in the U.S. His mother was from Briton Ferry, South Wales and his father was from St. William, Ontario, Canada. Walt was the youngest of six children. All of his siblings preceded him in death; brothers, Donald and Harry Quackenbush and sisters, Margaret (Quackenbush) McDonald, Lillian (Montgomery) Richards, and Patricia (Montgomery) Mielke. Walt began his business career as a very young boy selling candy bars to the truckers waiting in line to unload their sugar beets at the G&W Sugar Mill on N. Front Street in Fremont, Ohio. He then advanced to several daily and Sunday newspaper routes and lawn mowing. From there he reached his goal of landing a job on his 16th birthday at Hotel Super Service gas station, also on N. Front Street in Fremont. He worked there until the business was sold in 1957, at which time he opened his own business Collinwood Gulf and later Walt's Citgo, both on E. State Street in Fremont. In 1977 he opened Montgomery Car Care at the corner of S. Front Street and Hayes Ave. Walt retired in 1997 after serving the community for 46 years in the service station business. Walt married the girl next door to his sister's home, Helen E. Scherf, on Sept. 22, 1956. They met when Helen was 9 years old and Walt was 12 years old. They raised two sons, Mark Wilfred Montgomery (wife Diane, Windsor, California) and Timothy Lee Montgomery. Timothy died July 30, 1986 as a result of an aviation accident. Walt is also survived by two grandsons, Scherf Walter Montgomery and Sylas Timothy Montgomery. Walt was especially proud of teaching his oldest grandson, Scherf ,to drive a manual transmission Land Cruiser when he was 8 years old. Walt was also very proud of his youngest grandson, Sylas, receiving his NASA Competition Racing license within a year of receiving his driver's license. Walt was a lifelong race car fan having traveled coast to coast to attend events. Walt was the patriarch of The Sonoma County Cup, a group of 60 characters throughout the United States and Australia who speculate on the outcome of stock car races for the last 15+ years. Many of those race weekends at the track Walt would be surrounded the entire weekend by new and old members of The Cup constantly asking questions. Walt loved every minute of it. Maybe it was because he knew every answer. Walt will be dearly missed by many, but especially by his wife, Helen of 57 years and his son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons. Visitation for Walt will be held on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Herman-Kinn-Karlovetz Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Fremont where funeral services will be on Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. Certified Celebrant Maureen Pump will officiate. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery, Fremont. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Promedica Memorial Hospital, Fremont or to the Fremont Area Foundation-Stadium.